Warning: server deleted all single quotes on upload. Had enough, leaving as is. Eg.g. "some words were regognizable a delicious! and thanks!" had those words quoted.
Chapter 2
Unlikely pirates
Her vision gradually stopped doubling, her sense of balance coming to, and everything flipped over snapping into place. The orange-haired girl wasn't hanging upside down, she was standing leaning on white railing on top of a cabin, with two steep staircases leading up there. It was Shantae who was sprawled on her back, her legs propped against the main mast reaching into the blue sky, its sail hanging limply.
"Մյ պրոռտո fish ლოვիლի," the boy she, turns out, was laying on top of, groaned weakly, "ᚨ ոნა վδրւգ ჵկაᛎალაռ mermaid. Ⴀ ψոტჵმ վდրւგ պրეվრատիლաս᛭ վ girl! Aaah, ճտჵ ზա դჱѱრւփա...! Foood..."
Oops! Shantae jumped to her feet realizing she was laying on a pile of two boys. While dressed in only a bikini! So awkward!
She doubled over clutching at her side because the hook was still there, it felt like it reached her rib. While the line was coiling across the deck, anyone could catch it with their foot. She hastily pulled out a dagger and cut the unyielding line off. With effort. It seemed thin but was able to hold an elephant!
The boys haven't nociced, squabbling half-heartedly—she could not understand them!—but the girl did not like that at all. "Ա ვჲ ᚲտո տաքաա բւδეთჷ, ნվզნაկოմქա-san?" she asked icily, her eyes narrowed.
Realizing belatedly that pulling a knife out on a pirate ship before even introducing herself was fraught with... misunderstanding, she hastily put the dagger back into subspace, which only made the other girl more suspicious, to introduce herself politely:
"Shantae!" She pointed at herself. "Excuse me, but I can barely understand you, only some words. Do you speak West or Sun languages? And... Could you please help me get this hook out?
The orange-haired girl sighed, deflating, descended from her balcony-so the cabin on this ship was two-storey?-and walked up to the half-Genie to examine her side. "ᚡոթ dմмხձჷՖэՖ. Ⰼմςн ձρჲլоցьξՖ, кդჲшլξdցэ ჲԲ ᛭нэ 0լd ᚺѧяდჲդγ ւаդցմձցᛊ ьՖ flawed." She realized how deep that hook was lodged. "Քաქ զասաდիლի-թო... Be pain."
"It's nothing," Shantae bragged focusing to speak in the Sun language, or old Harmony as they were calling it its rough equivalent here, without slipping into her native tongue. "Picking arrowheads out is more painful." She hissed through her teeth when the orange-haired stranger began moving the hook under her skin piercing further until the tip poked out.
"ՍՖჲρթ, ժიվո սѫդա ს ქւսաჭკაմი!" the orange-haired girl barked, commanding. A moment later a very long nosed, darker-skinned guy with curly hair stampeded out onto the deck, laden with a pile of tools.
The hook's barb was cut off with nippers then it was pulled out (ouch!), the tiny wound was covered with a small sticky bandage. Now there were three people staring at her intently. Shantae fidgeted feeling a sharp regret she hadn't clothed herself before transforming into a mermaid.
"I, umm, swam day, swam night," she tried explaining, having not a clue if they understood her at all. "Swam another day. Sleepy, barely noticed your ship. Then, suddenly, a hook right in the gills! And I flew," she finished awkwardly. Did her attempt at simplifying work, or not?"
"ᚻճւԲ ըჲ մդdξгჷᛅՃըdiդg." The orange-haired girl shook her head. "Уჲմ-мѧdճm Բяჲμ ჷньր? Cгѧეк?" She mimed with her hands something breaking in half.
"No ship," Shantae replied. This was so inconvenient! "Magic. Wish. Another world. Then splash!" She mimed a fall. "Sea. Swim day. Swim night. Swim day."
"Ⰼѧցիς?" The other girl's eyes narrowed. "Ѧჩьւիᛅჸ մՖэг? Ⴇᛊvᛙլ Բяմiт?"
"Magic, yes," Shantae replied, unsure, barely recognizing her words. "What ability? What is a devil fruit? What devil?"
The blond guy in a black suit had his eyes simply glued to her body, just like those, in the Dance Parlor, making her shift awkwardly. No, not like those. His eyes were at the same much more honest and burned much hotter.
The orange-haired girl noticed them and barked something at the two making both disappear. Only the guy sprawled on the deck remained, from time to time moaning "foood" in a voice of misery and suffering. His face was so sunken, so... Shantae could not watch this, she walked up to him and offered one bento.
His transformation was so sudden it was frightening. A limp carcass transfomed into a vortex of energy that inhaled the food in a blink of an eye to start bombarding the half-Genie with a sunny smile and a verbal flood, in which some words were regognizable a delicious! and thanks!
"ԼմԲԲჸ," the orange-haired girl injected in a syrupy voice, at the same time twisting the guy's ear—it was stretching like it was rubber. "Shantae-san նվ ղჵვორիტ жა ლիжგაѳრաжկѥ, ზжաեթ տոლ᛭ქო Old Harmony. ゐ մჸ ჷ նѥδոռտաტჵցნჵ ზжაემ, ჩტობჲ ტաҁ დჵվѧրաთ!"
"But ոნա მეնა ჵტ ღოლոდւփի ռψաσლა!" he objected. "Ա ւ жაռ ფო ѱრѥჟжეմւ жѥჭվղო food..." He turned to Shantae, his eyes sparkling with the expectation of a miracle. " Թյ ւմჱჷშ᛭ პრჷვրაշათռა ვ mermaid? Right? Պოკაժი! Պოკაժი mermaid!"
"Pants first," the half-Genie replied firmly taking her trousers out of subspace and making a point of dangling them back and forth. "Mermaid later."
The trousers were still wet, dripping on the floor: time for things in subspace stands nearly still. But this was a question of principle. Shantae wasn't shy of her body, but she wasn't going to mingle with fully dressed people while only wearing a bikini either.
Realizing her conundrum the orange-haired girl dragged her into the little house—note to self, learn how this thing is called on a ship!—where Shantae quickly donned her clothing, from wet trousers to dripping vest, replacing the striped bikini top with her usual matching red. It being wet wasn't a problem. The sun was hot, silk dries quickly, traces of salt would be dusted off as always.
The orange-haired girl was mumbling something unintelligible while eyeing Shantae critically. This was wrong! Awkward, even.
"What name?" Shantae interrupted her while pointing her arm at her.
The other girl's eyes flew wide in realization. She introduced herself:
"Nami. The აվიգათოր of this պლაվւჩեգո բеდლաმա."
"Glad to meet you," Shantae finished with an honest, open smile.
Well, at least these words conveyed right. Or was it just the gesture being so universal?
The hurricane guy barged in and dragged her out to show the mermaid. He was bubbling with so much energy that resisting him wasn't possible! Well, they'd have their mermaid. It was no trouble for her.
Four people gathered on the deck: Nami and the three already familiar guys. She danced causing an uproar: the blond in a black suit got so excited from her dance it seemed he was spinning like a top. A true, honest admirer, to the point it was giving her goosebumps and warming her heart and she was unsure to be glad or creeped out.
The mermaid. tho, clearly raised mixed feelings in him. Right, her mermaid form was not a typical mermaid, had lots of differences. She'd explain that to him if she could.
The guy overflowing with energy—she managed to glimpse him having short, unruly black hair, a red vest and a straw hat—got so excited he started hopping acros railings and ropes with shouts of joy that, even without knowing the language, could only mean "cool!". Nami calmed him down with a fist to the back of his head, then whispering something with false sweetness into his ear as she twisted it. It seemed like the orange-haired girl was calling him "Luffy" or something like that.
Attracted by the noise, a little girl of about ten of age emerged out of the front little house—unlike Risky's tub, this ship had two, on both ends—dressed in a loose robe and a funny hat, her ash brown hair done in a thin braid that reached below her waist. She was startled by the mermaid so the half-Genie had to drop the transformation. The little girl's jaw dropped. Shantae transformed into something simpler, in this case, a monkey. Began running and leaping around the girl. Who was staring at her with stupefaction at first, then laughed and stretched her arm out. Shantae leaped onto it to hang down holding it by her tail. Astounding success! The girl placed her on her shoulder and was reluctant to let her go. Too bad talking to them was not possible! It was obvious they were good people. Why were they riding under a pirate flag?
When the excitement faded (Luffy wasn't going to calm, they had to quiet him down manually) Nami began explaining something to her crewmates. Judging by her tone, she was telling them about some sort of trouble while gesturing at the sea, still as a mirror. Shantae tried focusing but couldn't guess the meaning out of the few words she could understand.
When most got the direness of their situation—except Luffy who had enough enthusiasm for three, absolutely inexhaustible—Nami dragged two huge oars from the front little house and made the long-nosed guy attach them to the ship's sides. Were they going to row? To think of it, there was no other way to leave an eternally still zone. The sail was hanging perfectly flat.
Nami climbed the back little house—turns out it was two-storey, with a smaller house on top of it, the copse of trees was on top of that—and began commanding the boys. Luffy at the right oar, the blond and the long-nosed at the left. Their rowing was powerful but disorganized, kept sending the ship spinning off course.
Nami was growing angry, shouting at them, looking around nervously. Shantae was feeling awkward standing by the side like a stranger. She'd like to help, but how? Were they running from something...? Then she got it.
Attracted Nami's attention, tried speaking with gestures. Pointed down, made an undulating motion with her hand like fish swimming. Then mimed a sea surface with her left arm and a sea serpent surfacing with her right, doing Nom!. Finished by pulling her hands far apart: huge.
Nami replied with a tired and irritated tirade. Judging by her tone it meant something like "Attagirl, you got it. Now scram."
Shantae took a look around. So they were really trying to get out of this still. Unsurprising, considering whatshe felt in the depth. It felt like those sea serpents were swarming down there! The boys were strong, rowing powerfully, but moving a whole ship with two oars...? The watery mirror was stretching to the horizon. She had to help!
Yawning, rubbing at her sand-filled eyes, Shantae concentrated performing the mermaid dance. She then attracted Nami's attention and mimed tying a rope around her waist.
The orange-haired girl organized everything instantly. She had to climb to the top of the front little house as a mermaid across very steep stairs. Inconvenient, but the rope was already tied in place! She then had to jump off the ship withut the rope catching on anything. The front statue was a sheep's head, by the way. Waiting until they tie the other end around that sheep's neck, Shantae dove to a comfortable depth and began pulling.
She could not hear anything down here, she was orienting by the angle the rope was stretching at. If it began puling sideways, she shifted matching the ship's direction. It looked much smaller from below. Probably because it wasn't sitting too deep in the water. She was deadly sleepy, her eyes closing on their own. But the soft pressure waves passing sometimes below—some frighteningly close—were very stimulating. She kept pulling despite her tail aching from the strain, helping with her webbed hands. If you offer help, don't tell you can't pull your weight! But her head was really full of cotton, thoughts tangling and mixing. The mind-numbingly monotonous rhythm was lulling, she fell asleep a couple times only awakening from being hit upside the head by the ship's bottom.
She had vague memories of being pulled up back to the deck. There was a storm, the ship rocking. Or were her legs that unsteady?
( ｡ シーンブレイク ｡)
Shantae awoke in complete darkness, stretching languidly in a hammok. She thought at first it was her lighthouse home, with night outside. But hearing light creaking of the timbers and waves splashing outside she remembered she was again in an alien world, on a ship of improperly kind pirates... Or did those five hijack this ship from pirates? Being practically mute and deaf is so inconvenient! She could, of course, cheat by fulfilling someone's wish to understand her... But the risks were simply terrifying! With each wish fulfilled Shantae gained deeper understanding how great was the power she inherited and how careful she must handle it. Learning a language in one minute? Easily! Only, that time with Tendou Nabiki, she got fabulously lucky there were no side effects... Or were there? Maybe it was no accident the middle Tendou sister became a daring adventurer?
Why can't things be easy for once!
Climbing out of the hammock she began exploring in the dark by touch. How do they light this room? She wasn't keen on using open fire in a furbished room on a wooden ship, so her lighter finger trick was out. Found her shoes on the carpeted floor. Found a low table, a bookcase with books, another low table, another bookcase and yet another table with big cylindric vials on it. Only after making a full circle did she stumble on stairs up. After climbing it and lifting a hatch in the ceiling she found herself in a dimly lit room with barrels, bags, boxes and other supplies. It felt like she was dressing in here yesterday...? Two cannons stood to the sides, their little windows closed. The front and the back both had a single door. But which is which? She tried the one with a tiny round window. It was very dark in there but it was obvious she found an advanced tinker bath like the one in Akane's house. Only, this one was tiny, barely enough room to fit in. It had a sink with a, howzit, tap, a tub for bathing and a night vase with a built-in flush.
The kerosene lamp under the ceiling lit from the tiny flame on her fingertip. It was so bright! Most likely, tinkertech too.
After using the occasion to refresh herself and even to oil up anew, Shantae left the bath in a strolling mood.
She walked out onto the deck through the opposite door. Quiet and empty greeted her, the ship rocking slightly on small waves tied to a shore. The island was rising, towering, wedge-like stone protrusions going up and up. It was like an exotic tree the size of a mountain!
She knocked on the door of the front little house. There was no one in there. Another cannon, this one bigger, a big capstan sticking out of the floor and a pile of supplies. She peered down into the deck hatch beside the mast. It was dark, quiet, smelt like unwashed boys and week-old socks. She closed the hatch. The second story of the back little house was likewise empty. This seemed like their dining hall doubling also as the kitchen.
Where did they all go?
Shrugging Shantae sat at the table and had a breakfast of her own supplies. Taking other peoples's is impolite, unless those belong to a dungeon boss or to monster you defeat in fair combat.
Walking out she saw a group of ships coming from the sea. All looked the same, spotted green, with a blue symbol on their sails, like a stylized seagull holding something like two forks stuck together. Below it was an inscription, in the letters of the West language—known in the Sequin Land as the Old World language, m-a-r-i-n-e. The letters were familiar, the word was not. Who were those people?
Pulling out a spyglass she had borrowed from Risky one day, she stared at the shops with curiosity. Those were huge, four times bigger than this pirate tub, bristling with cannons. People were bustling on the decks, dressed uniformly in white shirts, white caps and bblue trousers with heavy shoes. All armed with muskets or sabres.
You know, these people look like someone whose job is catching pirates. Guards were coming in force!
She wondered where did the ship's owners go. It would be funny when the guards come to catch them but find no one, only her... Shantae... Gah!
She dashed from the ship simply leaping from the deck onto the shore. There was a whole village nearby, people working in the fields! Crouching low she slipped by, hid in the forest and a short dance later was hanging down from the branches as a bat.
If someone tells you bats have a bad sight in daylight, don't believe them. Bats see all right, at least the sort Shantae transforms into. The color she saw were quite peculiar, though—making this form unsuitable for solving color-based puzzles.
Making sure no one was following her, she flew back to the ship. Where, hanging comfortably from a nearby tree, she was able to observe the guardsmen work. They stampeded onto the ship en masse only to pull back disappointed. Leaving a few to stand watch they then stampeded to the village. Having upset the villagers, they headed up the mountain. The one commanding was an officer with impressive mustache, in turn being ordered around by a shady man with a very tall hairdo thinning at the end into a spiral. That one, Shantae decided, was very dangerous. Always on guard, his eyes hidden behind a band-like sunglasses... Shantae did not want facing him.
With almost every guard away climbing the mountain, Shantae loitered around the island. Tried listening in on peasants' conversation but it was the same gibberish as in Nami's speech, she could only understand single words. She flew a circle around the island, had a squabble with green parrots who tried chasing the strange thing away from their territory.
She skipped exploring the mountain: her bat form had a disting trouble climbing, it was tiring her quickly. Either that was just the sort of bats like that or there was some sort of error in her transformation dance—try figure. She could have done it as a monkey but the mountain was a real labyrinth of overhanging outcrops, easier to get lost than to find her new acquaintances.
When she completed the circle, the ship was gone. The guardsmen were scuttling around like ants in an upheaved anthill. Left, right or away? Not even a question. If they went left she'd meet them already, if they went away, they would be still visible. To the right, then!
Straining her little wings she flapped along the shore to the right, cutting corners where she could, nearly flush with the rock face, fighting the chaotic updrafts from sea winds meeting a rock. When she finally caught up with the familiar ship it was butting sides with a ship of the guards under a very long overhanging outcrop. She was coming closer with caution, doing her best not to draw attention.
And then something big thundered down the outcropping, yelling in many voices! The speeding thing snapped the main mast of the guard's ship before skipping away across the sea like a flat stone. The small sheep-headed sheep swiftly followed after that thing while the guards were dashing around panicking. Their ship was stuck fast with its broken mast in the water.
What should she do now? Approach the guards to ask for advice? That never worked out for her, unfamiliar guards were waving her away "keep going, little girl". Well, she was of short stature. Would, likely, stay small for the rest of her life. Well, her outfit was outlandish too. She couldn't help it: it was practical, she liked it and she loved dancing from her heart. Were those reasons treating her like nuisanse...? These guards were also upset because of their snapped mast. Wasn't worth it.
To chase after the pirates? On one hand, they weren't complete strangers anymore. On the other hand, this all... As Nabiki once said, "I smell a big pile of... adventure."
But, reasonably, she was alone in an unfamiliar world, unable to speak to people, without money, without job... Survive by hunting for sustenance? Easy-peasy, but terminally boring! She'd prefer adventuring with pirates she barely knew.
It was decided, then!
Descenting towards the surf at a spot where the guards could not see her, she dropped the bat transformation, danced the Mermaid Dance and crawled into the water pushing with her hands. Then it was time to work her tail: she had yet to catch up with the pirates she barely knew.
At times she was surfacing with caution to find her bearings. The ship was moving swiftly away towing something green behind it, resembling a pile of seaweed of a haystack.
Her tails was killing her, her flippers aching, when she finally caught up. She grabbed at the towed thing—turned out it was a roughly hewn raft with a medium-sized dragon on it, covered in shaggy green feathers. Dragging herself up onto the raft she dropped the transformation and leaned against the feathered side catching her breath.
The dragon opened one golden eye to cast a sideways look at her, then closed it again. It was so ancient, feeble. The top of its head was bald. It could not probably even fly, that's why they were carrying it around.
She was liking those people more and more.
( ｡ シーンブレイク ｡)
Shantae was woken from her nap by a chorus of yells from the ship. Turns out, the sea ahead was an illusion, like a mirror trick. And now the ship was entering the mirror disappearing into it with a minor rippling effect. This world had some fascinating magic!
Just in case, she transformed into a mermaid again. That proved prudent! A storm was raging inside the magical barrier, invisible from the outside. The waves were terrific! The little ship was being whipped around, the raft was being whipped around, the rope got untied... The little girl's heart-rending screams told her the dragon was named Ryuji. While the optimism-infested boy, turns out, could stretch his extremities for many fathoms. Such a novelty!
One such extremity knocked her off the raft. A sandal-clad foot hit her in her forehead making the clouds and the waves flip around rapidly exchanging places, ending in a plop. She wasn't going to even try catching up: the little ship was being carried at breakneck speeds, soon to disappear behind the towering waves. Diving deeper to where it was less turbulent she swam unhurriedly in the same direction.
Inside the storm ring, as expected, there was a circle of calm with an enchanted island in the middle. The little pirate ship was far ahead, heading towards it. She swam after it at relaxed pace moving her tired tail lazily. The underwater currents here felt weird, but that's an enchanted island for you.
At her next surfacing to catch her bearings—how don't fishes lose their way in the sea?—she found a rowboat catching from behind, the one person in it working hard, oars flipping madly foaming the water. She moved closer to look who was there.
It was that dangerous man with a tall hairdo. Who noticed Shantae to immediately prove by deed he wasn't just dangerous but very, very dangerous. He flung his arm out, her danger sense screamed making the mermaid dash-dive into the depth. The water was cut through with a plane of bubbles, as if he slashed the sea with a giant red-hot knife.
You could kill someone like that! Shantae frowned. That's it, he asked for it. Diving deeper just in case, she started blasting the boat with Mermaid Bubbles attacking from nearly straight down.
The boat lost its bottom after about three bubbles, pieces of wood and oars floating away. Her opponent started sinking without even trying to twitch. Wait, didn't he know to swim?
Shantae was cautious at first thinking it was a trick. But it soon became apparent he was drowning for real. Gurgling irritably-now she had babysit him-she swam up to him and dragged him back to the surface. The man was limp as a wet noodle. She had to drag him towards the island watching for him not to breathe in water. A couple miles, no less! What a chore.
She pushed the limp adversary up to one of the rocks jutting some distance from the shore: bringing enemies to your friends should not be done. She then watched him from behind another rock. The man dried out soon and began cussing s he flung around rock-cutting whirlwinds. Literally carving up the shore cliffs!
Let him sit on that lone rock if he's such a powerful mage but can't swim.
She swam away along the shore overabundant with half-sunken ancient ruins to transform into a harpy out of sight. From high up it became apparent half the island was covered in those ruins, not visible from the sea because of being overgrown with forest. She had a horrible itch to explore in search for treasure!
The little ship was tucked in a secluded bay. There was no one around, the dragon-bearing raft was gone. Wait, did they drag the raft ashore with them?
The positive answer came from up the mountain in clouds of dust, slamming into walls loudly on each turn. The raft was on wheels! Leaving a trail of chorused screams it sped under the harpy. The little girl was flapping around clutching at the dragon's neck feathers, her long braid flapping in the wind. The raft came to a stop near the shore.
She greeted her new acquaintances—the harpy was only transformation that could speak out of water, with her own unchanged voice too—before detransforming. Oops, there was one more guy with them, bearing three swords and such a grim expression like he wanted to kill someone. Where did they pick him up? Nami seemed torn, both glad to see Shantae and suspicious. Of what...? The half-Genie mimed the spiral hairdo of that man then pointed down the shore. Everyone tensed, Luffy moved to run there. Stretching his arms out with a shout of "Gմμ-ցմდ Rocket!" he grabbed at a cliff edge to launch himself like a sling shot!
Worried of him hurting himself from crashing she transformed into a harpy again to fly after him.
The restless straw-hat bearer was laughing his bum off from a safe distance as he teased the mean mage stuck on his lone rock. His words apparently hurt because the man was livid, launching squall after squall. Luffy was leaping and bouncing dodging the blades of wind carving up rocks and trees. Two boys ran up, the blond and the one with swords, so stop gaping. Luffy grabbed them and dove from the cliff to save them from another squall. Somehow, all three survived without breaking anything. The two other boys were obviously sharing her misgivings because they hit the restless one, two fists upside his head. But his only reply was snickering. Nothing could get through his skull!
She had to explain things, and fast, because the company's curiosity was off the charts. They no doubt itched to know how did she defeat such a dangerous mage. Miming wasn't working this time. She grabbed a stick to draw on the sand. She could draw a little: making schematics is an important skill for a relic hunter! It seems they got it this time. And, looked like, they wanted a demonstration. She turned into a harpy—she wasn't badass enough yet to use the Mermaid Bubble outside of water—to slash at a nearby bush with feather projectiles. That caused a ruckus! Luffy was asking her something, looked like he wanted her to travel with them. Well, she would like to. Nami was trying to find words in this "Old Harmony" of theirs attempting to explain something to her. It wasn't working to both of theirs frustration.
The temptation to use the wish trick was so strong!
She was about to detransform when the little girl—whom they called Apis—gestured her to remain in the harpy form, before beginning to tell the others something, unsurely but with a feeling. After which Nami began asking pointed questions hitting eerily close to home—like "Magic, language, understanding?"
It seems Apis was able to read her mind. But, somehow, only when she was a harpy? A mystery.
She tried explaining as best as she could she was a Genie, repeating the word "danger" several times. It looked like Nami understood her.
Unfortunately, that did not dissuade the redhead: "Genie, magic, language, understanding, danger?"
"Yes," Shantae confirmed. "Manydanger."
Nami was giving her comrades some long explanation that made them worry. She then turned back to Shantae: "Language, understanding, magic—yes!"
"Danger..." the half-Genie tried for the last time. With no way to explain what the danger actually was without fulfilling this wish first, it was a vicious circle!
"Magic—yes!"
What could you do when they ask you so passionately while you yourself are losing a struggle against temptation?
Remembering vividly Nabiki's quote about the road to hell paved with good intentions, she gestured everyone else to stand back. The last thing they needed now was a domino effect, like that time a resonance cascade of wishes transported Ranma with fiancees and Ryouga to the Sequin Land.
Nami's friends' faces were showing open worry. Shantae did not want to do this anymore. The lack of understanding was not the end of the world. One could learn the language the normal way!
But Nami's eyes glinted with so much determination...
Closing her eyes, feeling for those vague sensations she barely could make heads and tails of. She trusted it all to her Genie instincts, bunched her magic up and—
Pain! It hurt so unbelievably much...! Like all the nails in the world self-hammering themselves into her head. Blinking awake Shantae realized she was sprawled on her back, her vision blurring and doubling. She did not want to move a muscle. Voices were reaching her. Well, at least it worked: she could understand them now.
"..told you sorcery was a bad idea!", the guy with swords.
"But... Who is this lady?", Apis, with fear and confusion.
"As far as I understand, it's Nami-san's adoptive mother," the blond's voice was uncharacteristically sad. "Killed many years ago. Such a rotten luck..."
Oh, no! Shantae felt her stomach sink, the feeling more like a bridge dropping from under her feet into abyss. Let it not be true!
"She made Nami cry." Luffy's voice was dangerous, full of a promise of payback. "But... That was from pure heart...! How comes...? Arrrgh, I don't get it!"
Struggling through pain, Shantae lifted herself on her elbows.
Nami was choking sobs over a body of a young woman with shaved head with few strands of cherry hair as her bangs.
You can't shrug thisoff with an embarrassed "oopsie". Shantae imagined herself over a cooling body of her own mom and she felt ill. To the point that the pitiful prickling at her temples faded well into background.
"I only I could warn you what the catch was," she croaked, tears swelling.
Luffy glared darkly but did not say anything, watching silently.
"Belmelle-san," Nami sniffed.
"What should we do?" the long-nose muttered, lost.
"Bring a shovel," Shantae squeezed out as she crawled closer on all fours: she had no strength to stand up. "Genie magic cannot return the soul. Its' cosmic power is near-miraculous... But you cannot wish someone back to life if you don't have their soul at hand."
"So, then I did this... to myself?" Nami choked out. "I... I tried fooling you when I learned you're a Genie..." she admitted. "I... deliberately..."
"No, it was me who should have resisted temptation," Shantae confided. "Using other's wishes for your own gain... It worked the last time because the danger was real. The ability to understand..." She forcing herself stand up through sparks in her vision. "We'd do without, somehow. With gestures, or—"
Wait. Stop. Why was a doubling sky swimming in front of her eyes as if she was sprawled on her back. And Nami's face hovering over her, angry and focused despite the tear trails...?"
"..ear me?" Nami used her fingers to unceremoniously widen Shantae's eyelids as she examined her left eye. She then brought a splayed hand to her face. "How many fingers? Do you faint often?"
"Four," Shantae replied in puzzlement, noticing now the entire pirate crew was standing around her in a worried ring. "I never. Why?" She felt something tacky on her face, tried wiping it off. Turned out it was blood. "Oh! That's... That's probably the side-effect of learning a new language in one minute. My head aches some every time."
"Some to the point of falling unconscious, bleeding from your nose and red veins in your whites?" Nami clarified with sarcasm. "I wouldn't want to feel such a some...! Stay down, don't you dare rising up! Boys, bring me a cold compress, now!"
And so, a midst awkward hustle, the half-Genie from Sequin Land, the lover of dances, adventure and a restless person in general, made her acquaintance with the Straw Hat pirates.
( ｡ シーンブレイク ｡)
AFAIR, February 2019. Last correction March 14, 2025. Translated to English Jan 2025.
d20 dice rolls in this chapter: none (because I got that idea years after writing it, after reading one memorable Original).
A.N. The events here are alternative timeline of episodes 0055, 0057 and 0058. The Straw Hats spent more time in the Calm Belt than they did in the canon but unlike the canon they did not meet any sea kings. Shantae slept over the episode 56 then stomped Eric the Whirlwind knocking him out of the game. She is such a cast-iron butterfly, derailing the canon of this filler anime arc with a single flap of her wings.
Yea, and don't you dare complaining to me about anime fillers and films. Those are a godsend for this fic.