-END OF THE UNTOLD BATTLE-
Kei could feel some movement under her. The noises of clashing of weapons and people fighting around her reached her ears. She moved a little and felt something soft under her, soft like.....fur.
It made her want to keep laying on it, but she soon realized what situation she was under, and immediately her eyes shot open and she sat up.
"Kei! You're awake!" She heard a familiar voice say and turned her head to see Nami running beside her. She looked under herself to see Chopper and soon realized that she was riding on Chopper, who had transformed into Walk point. Looks like she lost consciousness after meeting Luffy.
"Uh, yeah, what is going on?" Kei asked while looking around herself. The Royal Army and Rebel army were still fighting like crazy.
"We are finding a huge cannoneer. This whole place will be blasted away by a cannonball in 4 minutes. If we don't search for it soon, we will all die!!! " Chopper said with tears in his eyes.
"4 minutes, huh...
Chopper, stop for a second" she said and Chopper came to a halt. She climbed down from his back and said
" I'll go search somewhere else for it as well, you both go ahead". Chopper and Nami nodded and started running again. When she looked around, she realized that sand was flying everywhere, because of which she couldn't quite figure out where she is exactly.
"Dammit , I don't even know where the clock tower exactly is...." she said to herself. Even if she did tell others about where the cannon is, it would be of no use because of the ticking bomb inside it. But that didn't mean she is going to just sit here and do nothing.
Suddenly, she saw many people emerge around her out of the sand that was flying everywhere. They were holding weapons and had an evil grin present on their face.
They are from the rebel army?...... No, they must be Crocodile's men.
Suddenly something in the sky caught her eye and turned her head in that direction " That's Usopp's signal." she said while looking at the red smoke in the air. Turning her gaze back towards the enemy, she frowned. " Don't get in my way "
Crouching down, Kei placed the plan of her hand on the ground.
"VINE FLEXURE!!"
Soon, vines started to grow out of the ground and strangle them. As soon as they fell onto the ground defeated, she started running in the direction from where the signal came. If she kept fighting these guys who she comes across, she could never reach the clock tower.
The whole place was in chaos, people were killing each other mercilessly, thinking that they are the ones who are fighting for justice, but in reality, they were just playing in the hands of Crocodile. Even if Kei knew what was going to happen, it didn't mean she will just wait for things to take place while others tried with life on their line. She suddenly came to a halt when she saw someone familiar.
" Shit! Not at a time like this!"
She said recognizing the similar dark blue hair and glasses. It was Tashigi and looks like she had noticed Kei, as well as her eyes, were wide in shock now. Kei waited to see what she is gonna do.
Either she will attack or let me go, but I still need to stay aware.
Tashigi had her first clenched tightly while she stayed silent. By now Smoker might have told her that Kei is a part of Strawhats and there was still the part where she thinks Kei had fooled them the last time. Just when Kei thought that she might attack, Tashigi she lifted her hand and pointed in a certain direction.
"Your friends went that way, you should better keep going as well." she said, a determined look in her eyes. It looked like it took all in her to not just snap and attack her, but she restrained herself. Because she knew that only the Strawhats could save this country right now.
A sigh of relief left Kei and without saying anything she started heading towards the direction that Tashigi told about.
Using her powers, Kei turned her hand into a long vine and caught the top of a tall building. Pulling herself up, she landed on it's roof safely. When she looked around herself, she still couldn't see properly because of the sand. She squinted her eyes and tried to have a clear look.
Thankfully, she soon saw the clock tower and using the leaves of a tree nearby, she started riding on it towards the clock tower. It was far but she could still reach in time. The injuries in her body still hurt, she tried to ignore them but every time she tried to do any movement, her body throbbed in pain.
When she could see the tower more properly, she saw that the clock part of the tower was open and someone was standing over there. She couldn't remember their names but she recognized them as Crocodile's men.
__________________
"Oi Nami! What the hell are you trying to do?!!" Usopp said with a terrified expression on his face.
"We really don't have time! If we fall, we die! Hey!!"
"I know that! Just stand there quietly! I'm calculating right now!" Nami yelled in irritation with her Clima tact' ready in her hand.
"QUIETLY?! I don't understand the meaning of this setup!" Usopp yelled back, scared of what she was gonna do. Right now, Chopper was standing on Usopp's shoulder and on top of him was Vivi.
"What the hell are you gonna do?!" He asked while freaking out.
"You'll know once I do it! Ready?!" Nami said while tightening her grip on her weapon.
"The weather is Typhoon!" She said while putting the two-part of her weapon in a cross position above her head.
"CYCLONE TEMPO!!"
Nami said while swinging her weapon, a part of Nami's weapon went flying towards Usopp.
"H....hey! Cyclone tempo is just a boomerang game for parties." Usopp said not quite getting what she was trying to do.
"Make it to the clock tower!" Nami screamed. The weapon went rolling towards him and hit him directly in the place where his 'Family Jewels' were.
Usopp's face went pale and his eyes popped in shock. Tears started to form from the corner of his eyes and his jaw dropped in pain. Suddenly, the weapon started to shine under him and a huge pressure got released, which caused them to go flying in the sky.
"What the heck.....? They are coming up!" Sanji said while looking down at Usopp, Chopper, and Vivi, who were now flying up towards him.
"Chopper! Jump to where Sanji-Kun is!" Nami shouted. Chopper and Vivi's jaw dropped in shock."Ehhhhhh!"
"Sanji-kun! You know the rest right! We don't have time!" Nami shouted while looking towards Sanji. Sanji hesitated for a second, contemplating whether the plan would actually work.
"Oh, heck! I just have to do it!" He said and readied himself to jump.
"I'm counting on you Tony-Kun!" Vivi said.
"Okay! Hang on tight, Vivi!!" Chopper said and jumped off from Usopp's back.
"Chopper! Get on my right leg!!" Sanji said as he jumped out of the building towards them. Chopper soon landed on Sanji's right leg. Using all the energy he could right now, he pushed his right leg upwards. This caused Chopper to go up higher in the sky.
"There! They are coming Zoro!!" Sanji yelled to Zoro who was standing on the roof.
"So all I have to do is throw them towards the tower, right?!" He said while looking towards the tower. He removed his two swords and got ready.
"Zoro!!" Chopper yelled.
"Okay! Leave it to me!" Zoro said and jumped towards them. Flipping his back towards the ground, Zoro placed his swords in a cross position.
"Swords?!!" Chopper said in shock.
"Dummy! Don't be scared! I'm using the back of the sword!!" The swordsman said with a smirk. Soon Chopper landed on the blade of the swords.
"9!" Crocodile's men who were standing near the clock counted down. When Vivi looked up towards the clock, her eyes widened to see that they were looking down towards her. Means they had found out about their plan.
"Ms. Wednesday" the one with the white puffy hair, Mr . Seven said.
"Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit, I know that she is a traitor to our company." the woman in a frog hat and costume, Miss Father's day said. They had guns in their hand.
"Wait for a second! We are in the air! If they shot us....!" Zoro said in shock. But then his expression changed from shock to a determined one. There was no other option and it was now or never.
"Get Ready! We have no other choice! I'm gonna shoot you up, Chopper!"Chopper and Vivi nodded their head.
Using all the force he could, he pushed his swords, and Chopper and Vivi went flying towards the clock. Both Miss Father's day and his partner readied their gun but before they could shoot something else caught their eyes.
"WOOD SPIKES!!"
Many thin wooden spikes soon went towards them in full force. They poked them in every part of their body.
"Ahh!" They cried in pain and fell forwards. "That's...." Vivi looked up to see Kei flying towards the clock. "Kei!!" Chopper said in relief.
"Ready, Vivi?!!" Chopper said and transformed into Heavy point." With all your might, Tony-Kun!!". Vivi stood on his arm and with all force he could gather, Chopper threw Vivi towards the top. Soon she reached towards the top and landed safely near the cannoneer.
As for Kei, because she was flying towards the clock in full force, she couldn't stop the momentum and her back slammed towards the wall, behind the cannoneer. Her body stuck to the wall in an upside-down position. The leaves on which she was riding on, scattering everywhere.
I bet my backbone is crushed in pieces right now. Kei thought while groaning in pain.
Without wasting a second, Vivi went and cut off the tip of the rope of the cannoneer which was on fire. She panted while looking at the cannon. There was total silence for a few seconds. She thought that she had stopped the cannon for a minute but was soon proven wrong when she heard a ticking sound.
Her eyes widened in shock. She immediately stood up on her feet and went to check inside the cannoneer.
"This is......." Without her saying it, Kei knew what she saw inside it.
"There's a problem! Everyone!" She said while looking down at others who were waiting for her reply.
"The cannonball has a timing device!If we don't do something, it will explode!" Vivi informed them. Everyone looked at her with a terrified expression.
"WHAT?!!"
Vivi turned back towards the cannoneer and looked at the cannonball inside it, which had a clock in the center of it. The ticking of the clock could be heard by both Vivi and Kei. She couldn't believe it, even after she went through so much suffering just to stop this, it was useless in the end.
Every single time she thought that she had saved her country, Crocodile proved her wrong. It was like he was a step ahead of them every single time. Vivi started banging her hand again and again and again against the cannoneer.
*Thump, thump, thump thump* came a voice every single time her hand hit the metallic surface of the cannon.
"He made us come this far to look for it...! He even announced the attack..!!!" She said with desperation in her voice. It was like she wanted to cry but couldn't.
Every single time she thought there was a hope to save her country, to stop the rebellion, and to return her country to the way it was, peaceful and happy, the harsh reality would hit her back hard in the face as if saying her that there was no hope left for her.
"Just how far.....-" she slowly bent down on her knees "-.......does he have to go and make fool of us?!! Just how much does he have to mock us!!
CROCODILE!!"
Kei remembered what was to happen after this, so she ran towards the circular window which she came through. Turning her arm into a vine, she hooked it into the window tightly and jumped down. The vine extended as she descended down the building. As she reached where everyone was, she turned her armed back to normal.
A confused look formed on everyone's face as Kei looked at the top of the clock tower and then towards the ground. She croched down at a specific spot and placed the plan of her hand on it.
"Hope this works......."
She muttered under her breath and closed her eyes. That's when, in front of her, the ground started to shake a bit. Everyone looked below in confusion but that's when a massive vine grew out of the ground, causing everyone to step away from it cautiously. Everyone looked in surprise and confusion as they tried to figure out what Kei was doing.
Kei stood up and climbed on top of the vine. Using her powers, she made the vine grow bigger and higher. While this happened, Vivi sensed someone's presence behind her and turned her head back in shock.
"Pell!!" She said looking at the head of the Royal guard standing in front of her.
"This place brings back memories.....
The Sand Sand clan's secret base......" He said with a distant look in his eyes.
"Pell, listen! The cannonball has a timing.." Vivi tried to say.
"Your unpredictable actions gave us a lot of trouble all the time." he said, not listening to what she was saying. He closed his eyes for a brief moment as if remembering a nostalgic memory.
A small smile formed on his face as if showing that the memory was something special and important to him, a thing he would always want to remember. A memory that he cherishes a lot.
"I'm proud from the bottom of my heart that I was able to serve you, the Netafuri family." he said while looking at her with fondness.
But before he could transform, a hand was placed on his shoulder from behind. He looked back to see Kei panting while standing on the really huge vine that reached the clock tower. She jumped inside and told Pell to step aside.
"There's no need for trying to give away your life."
Her words made Pell's eyes go wide,not understanding how she knew what he was going to do. Though, Kei gave him no chance to ask questions, she guided the vine inside the cannoneer and took out the cannonball from inside the cannoneer.
Vivi and Pell looked at it with a surprised expression. Without wasting a second, the vine took the cannonball and started raising up in the sky. It kept growing , the sound of the ticking of the clock becoming lower and lower. Kei felt her hands were gonna give away due to the weight of it, it was first time she grew something that big. But she pushed herself a little more.
It went higher above the clouds and Kei, Pell and Vivi could no longer see the cannonball. But Kei didn't stop the vine.
Soon, a massive and extremely loud explosion took place. A huge shock wave went through the whole town, causing the buildings and towers to crumble and fall under the pressure. Even the people on the ground were blown away because of the shock wave. The vine also blew up halfway and half of it started falling down livelessly. Thankfully, no one was injured when it feel to the ground with a thud.
Not a single cloud was now floating in the sky. Silence had taken place in the whole town. A somewhat smile of hope formed on Vivi's face thinking that everything, stopped but she was soon proven wrong.
"Hey......... This can't be happening....." Usopp said in disbelief. This caused the other Strawhat's to look where Usopp was looking as well. The Rebel army and the Royal army were slowly standing up, again. All of them slowly started to raise their weapon in the sky. A frown formed on Pell's face at the sight, while Kei sat down from exhaustion.
Strawhats would have thought that stopping the town from the explosion would have stopped the battle as well. But right now in front of them, they were being proved wrong. People started fighting again as if the explosion didn't even take place. Kei saw Vivi stand up on her feet, her fist clenched tightly. Even though Vivi's back was faced to her, Kei knew what type of expression she was making right now.
"Please stop fighting!... Please stop fighting!... Please stop fighting!....
Please stop fighting!...."
She kept shouting in desperation. Again and again and again and again, not stopping even for a second, she kept shouting. But her voice couldn't reach the others.
Seeing Vivi in such a form, tears started to form in Nami's eyes. Pell wanted to stop her but knew it was no use.
"You dummy..." Suddenly she turned towards others."You guys! What are you just standing there for!! It doesn't matter if you punch or kick! Stop the rebellion!!" She said while pushing Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro.
"Reduce the casualties as much as possible!!" She yelled as tears started to trickle from the corner of her eyes.
All of a sudden, the ground started to shake and rumble, causing the buildings to shake as well. Cracks started to form on the surface of the stone ground which slowly widened. A few buildings even started to fall and crumble because of it.
A huge hole suddenly formed in the center of it and something, or more like someone came flying out of it.
"Hey look at that!!" Sanji said while pointing towards it.
"CROCODILE?!"
The strawhat's said in shock. Vivi, who had at some point stopped shouting, looked at it as well. It was none other than Crocodile, the person who destroyed her country. The person because of whom the war took place, was now in front of her, defeated. Saying that she was stunned or shocked would be an understatement. Luffy had kept his promise, like always. "Luffy-San........"
"I don't know why he flew out from such a place, but....." Sanji said looking at Crocodile's flying body.
"That's right! I knew it from the start! But in any case...." Usopp said in relief.
"HE WON!!" A huge grin and happiness were present on all of the strawhat's faces.
But the battle still hadn't stopped. Vivi dropped to her knees and her head was hanging down." When our enemy is already gone..... Don't shed... any more blood" she said while clenching her fists.
"PLEASE STOP FIGHTING!!"
Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Kei standing beside her.
"Look up..." She said while looking towards the sky. This caused Vivi and Pell to look up at the sky.
Their eyes widened, the sky which was cloudless a few seconds ago were now filled with grey clouds. Droplets of water started to fall on the ground.
The land which was dried up for years was finally blessed with rain and the pain and suffering the country went through because of it was finally coming to an end.
"It raining...." Vivi said.
"Yeah..."
Vivi stood up on her feet and clenched her fist tightly.
"PLEASE, STOP FIGHTING!!"
Vivi yelled for the last time but this time her voice reached everyone. Slowly, everyone lowered their weapons. Crocodile's body which was flying in the sky for so long finally landed in front of them.
"Crocodile-san...."
"How come he fell into a place like this.." people whispered to themselves.
"The rain falling right now..... Will fall again as it used to...... Since our nightmares are....all over" Vivi said to the people of her country. A smile formed on Pell face seeing how much she has grown up.
But the people refused to believe it and started raising their weapons again.
"Stop it! Royal army!" Suddenly someone shouted. Everyone looked towards the castle to see Chaka standing there.
"You all stop it too!! Rebel army!!" This time someone else shouted. They looked in front of them to see Igaram standing with a child in his arms. The Igaram that Vivi thought had died while trying to save her.
"Igaram...!!" Vivi said with tears and relief on her face. Without wasting a second she started heading down and Kei and Pell followed her.
"That's the old pervert from whisky peak," Zoro said recognizing him.
" Hey, can you speak?" Igaram asked the boy in his arms and he slowly sat up.
"That's the boy that got injured because of the Royal army," one of the rebellion said.
"It's not true... They weren't the ones who hurt me. Everyone listen! I saw it!" The boy said. He told them how he saw Mr 2 change his face into the King and how Crocodile's men tried to kill him so that their secret isn't revealed. The Royal Army and Rebel army looked at him in shock.
"That's right this battle was a plot from the beginning" they heard the Leader of the Rebel army, Koza said.
"Everyone drop your weapon!!" Igaram ordered. The people hesitated for a second but then slowly started to drop them. The war had finally come to an end.
____________________
"Daddy!! Everyone!!" Vivi yelled as she ran towards her father, with Kei walking behind her. Pell had gone to help Chaka. The King was carrying Luffy on his back, as he was injured and unconscious. Nami, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Usopp, and Nami were there as well.
"Ah, it's Vivi and Kei," Chopper said.
"Daddy?" Sanji said in confusion. It was then that he realized that the person standing in front of him was Vivi's father.
"Vivi-chan's father?!!!" He said in shock. "Are you the King?" Zoro asked.
"I prepared myself to die at one point, but he saved me......" The King said looking back towards Luffy. "His injuries need to be treated....but yours too...." He said while smiling at them.
"Usopp, you......" Kei said while looking him up and down. His whole body was covered in bandages and only some part of his face was left uncovered.
"Huh?" He said in confusion. When he realized what she was talking about, he thought 'Is she worried about me...?" A silly smile formed on his face and he said" Don't worry about me, I'm f-"
"You look like a Pinocchio that turned into a Mummy" she deadpanned while interrupting him.
"Hey! That's rude! At least act a little concerned!" He yelled angrily. Kei stayed silent for a second and just stared at him. While Usopp just looked at her awkwardly, thinking what she is gonna say. She placed a hand on his shoulder and asked
"Are you okay?"
"Like hell I would believe that!!" He yelled while swatting her hand away.
" More importantly, Vivi, go already," Zoro said while sliding down and sitting while leaning against the wall of a nearby building.
"What?" She said in confusion.
"Go back to the square." he said while closing his eyes.
"Of course, the rebellion has finally stopped. It wouldn't be proper if the King or princess didn't say a few words" Usopp said while laughing.
"Yeah....then I'll tell them about you, too," she said while standing beside her father.
"Vivi-chan, you know how it is.....-" Sanji said while lighting the cigarette near his mouth."-We are notorious. We have no intention of getting involved with a country," he said as he gave her a grin.
"I'm hungry," Chopper said while sticking out his tongue.
"We're going to head to the palace. I'm exhausted" Nami said while shrugging her shoulders.
"Yeah, I'm tired as well, I just wanna sleep right now." Kei said while leaning against a wall. They all smiled at her as if saying her to go ahead without them.
Returning the smile and nodding at them, Vivi and her father started heading towards the square.
When they could no longer see her, they immediately collapsed on the ground. They were all exhausted and didn't have the energy to even walk. But they knew that if Vivi saw them like this, she would refuse to go and will feel bad for them.
The long battle that will never be told, had finally ended.
____________________
Kei slowly opened her eyes as she woke up to the sound of pouring rain. She moved her sleepy eyes down at herself to see that she was sleeping on a bed and had bandages wrapped around different parts of her body. No sooner she realized that others were also there, sleeping on their respective beds beside her.
Other than the pitter-patter sound of rain, she could hear another noise, the noise of something grinding. Oh yeah, and there was another sound which was Luffy's snores which she ignored. She groggily sat up, letting the soft fabric of the sheet that was covering her body slide down. She rubbed her eyes as a yawn left her mouth. Even though she just woke up, she felt really tired and sleepy.
" Oh Kei, you are already awake?" She heard a voice and turned her head towards it. She saw Chopper standing on a chair that was placed in front of a table near the door. On the table was the stone mortar that he usually uses to make medicines. Jumping down from the chair, he started heading towards her bed.
"Are you okay? Does your body still hurts?" He asked as he climbed on the bed and stood in front of her.
"I'm okay, it doesn't hurt that badly now," Kei said while looking at the bandages covering her right arm.
"Hey, Kei." she heard him quietly call and looked back at him, he had a look of concern showing that he was thinking about something.
"What?"
"When I was treating your injuries along with Vivi, I noticed something."
He started and she nodded her head as if saying him to continue.
"Most of the injuries you got were fresh, showing that you got them while fighting yesterday. But the blood around the injury on the right side of your stomach was dried up as if you got it before the other ones." he explained. Kei was a little surprised that he noticed it, it was the injury she got while fighting the other guy, Daiki. But now the problem was how to explain it to him.
"That you see...... I got it while ...... "she tried to say while scratching the back of her head. She had to think up of something fast.
"....fighting the marines....... You know when we were heading for Rain dinners..... Yeah that's when I got it." she said nodding her head this time, thinking that she would have convinced him.
"What?! That was almost a day before we reached Alubarna!" Chopper said
in shock.
" Why didn't you tell me ?!" He yelled angrily this time. She was a little shocked because this is the first time he yelled angrily at her. Yeah, he had yelled at her before in Drum island too, but that was because he was trying to hide his emotions when she complimented him. But this time he is actually angry.
"Yeah, I forgot about it during all the fuss, you know." Kei said, though it was only the half truth.
"You idiot! It's not something you should forget so easily! As the doctor of the ship, it's my duty to make sure that everyone is fine, no matter what the situation is!!" He yelled while waving his hooves angrily.
Her eyes softened a bit, it was clear that he was worried about her. Lifting one of her hands, she placed it on top of his fuzzy hat. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Next time something like this happens, I'll immediately inform you" she said while softly patting his hat.
"You better do!" He puffed his cheeks angrily while crossing his arms over his small chest.
________________________
"Whoa... They're all interesting books!
Is it really okay to take them with me!" Nami asked to the King who was standing near the door.
"Yeah, it's fine, since I've read them all," he said " Thank you! Then I'll help myself." She said with a smile and the King exited the room, leaving only Kei and Nami to be there.
They were in the library of the castle right now. In front of them was a huge shelf filled with books. Kei skimmed through the titles written on them, most of them were about the history of this world or information about a different place and stuff. It's been two days since she woke up and 3 days since the war ended. Everyone was awake instead of Luffy.
"So? Did you find anything of your interest?" Nami asked while turning to look at Kei. Nami was sitting on the sofa in front of the shelf and was surrounded by loads of books.
"Not really. I'm not really interested in books like this." Kei said while shrugging her shoulders.
"Wow, really?" Nami asked in surprise.
"What's with that reaction," Kei asked with furrowed eyebrows.
"No it's just that...., seeing how your personality is, I thought you will be someone that likes books a lot." She said while closing the book in her hand and placing it on top of other books.
"I do like story books but I'm not really keen on reading books about history or about world facts." Kei said.
"Why so?" Nami asked with curiosity while picking another book from the shelf and opening it.
"First of all, I find books like that boring. Second of all, I'm not really interested in knowing things that won't be useful to me. It's too much work." Kei said, still looking at the shelf.
And she meant it . In her world, the school made her learn every single thing about history and other subjects, saying that they will be useful to her in the future. And what happened in the end to her, she got transferred into a whole different world. So one can't expect her to read the whole damn thing about the history and facts of this world again. Expect for the Void century, now that you could say is a different thing for Kei.
"History can be useful in the future you know." Nami said while flipping through the pages of the book in her lap. Kei went towards her and peered down at the book she was holding. It was a book on information about different places in this world and their geography. A book that she would definitely be interested in.
"Maybe, but it doesn't really interest me." Kei said while turning her attention towards the books placed on the sofa beside Nami. "Oh there are storybooks here as well." Kei said in realization while looking at the different titles on the books.
"I definitely thought that you would be someone, that would like to get as much information as possible" Nami said with a laugh. This caused Kei to chuckle as well.
"If my Mom heard you say that, she would laugh at you." she blurted out. Her hand suddenly stopped when she realized what she said. There was a sudden silence in the room.
"Your Mom?" Nami asked while slowly turning to look at her. Without looking at her, Kei started looking through the books again.
"Yeah." she said while picking one of the books. It had a dark green and thick cover and was a heavy book.
'Adventures of Detective Darwin'
Was written in bold on the front cover of the book. She ran her hand through the surface of the book, it was a little dusty as if it was not touched for a long time.
Not getting a reply from Nami for so long, she looked at her. Kei was a little confused when she saw her eyebrows furrowed. It was as if Nami wanted to ask her something.
"Where is.... she right now?" She asked.
"Right now? Hmm, you could say she is really far from me right now" Kei said without thinking much about it. Nami's eyebrows that were furrowed a few seconds ago were now raised up.
"Is she........." Nami said with a little hesitance. At first, Kei looked at her in confusion but soon realized what she was talking about." No! Don't worry, she is not dead!" She said assuring her while waving her hand in front of her.
"Oh." Nami said in relief.
"She just......... lives very far from here." Kei said while turning her gaze back towards the book her my hand. She opened it and started skipping through the pages. There was silence again in the room for a few seconds, an awkward silence. Suddenly, Nami stood up and came to stand beside Kei.
"Do you like these kinds of books?" She asked while looking at the book in her hand.
"Yeah, it's always interesting to know what will happen in such kinds of books." Kei said.
"Then you should make sure to take it because the King said we can have as many books as we want from here." The orange-haired woman said with a smile. This caused a small smile to form on Kei's face as well.
"Yeah, maybe I will".
____________________
"Boy... I slept really well!" Luffy said while throwing his arms up in the air and laughing. He went to reach for the hat on his head but soon found it missing.
"Oh? My hat? My hat! Where's my hat?!!" He asked while looking around himself. "I'm starving! Breakfast! Hey, breakfast! Where's my hat?! Breakfast! My hat" he said while clutching his stomach.
"Will you calm down for a second.....?" Kei said while sitting on the bed placed beside his.
"You just woke up and you are already loud! And it won't be breakfast. It's early evening right now." Sanji who was sitting on a chair near the door said. Usopp was standing just beside him with his arms crossed over his chest.
" Your hat is over there. A soldier found it for you in front of the palace." he said while pointing at the bed beside Luffy's. Luffy immediately took it and placed it on his head with a grin.
"I'm glad you got well, Luffy-san." Vivi who was sitting on a chair beside this bed said while giving him a closed eye smile.
"Got well? I've always been well." he said in confusion."You dummy, you were in a serious condition with a fever and stuff. Vivi and Chopper were looking after you all this time!" Nami said while arranging the books she took from the library.
"Really? Thanks!" Luffy said to Vivi and Chopper.
"Oh hey, Luffy! You woke up?" Everyone turned their head to see Zoro entering the room."Ahh, hey! You went out training! Didn't you?!" Chopper yelled angrily while running towards him.
" What? It's my business, right?" Zoro said while pouring himself a glass of water. "No means No! I'm the doctor of the ship! And don't take off your bandages either!" He yelled.
"It's hard to move with them"
"Don't move then!"
Suddenly, the door to the room burst open and a woman that looked like a female version of Igaram entered."Did I hear right that the captain is up! It will be dinner time soon so would you wait for a little?" She said. A servant soon came inside with a trolley filled with lots of fruits present in them and placed it beside Luffy. Zoro looked at the women in shock.
"S....so you really were in that kind of thing....." He said mistaking her for Igaram. "No, everyone. She is Terracotta-san. She's Igaram's wife and head of the palace's servers"
"No way......! A wife could resemble her husband, but this is too much" he said in shock.
" I heard you eat a lot. Would you have some fruit to hold you until the dinner?" She said while pointing towards the fruits.
" Okay" Luffy said and within a second all the fruits were gone.
"ARE YOU A MAGICIAN?!" Sanji and Zoro yelled furiously.
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The dinner table was in chaos. Everyone was eating like it was their last day in the life. Food was flying from one place to another and everyone's cheeks were puffed with food but that didn't stop them to eat more.
There were different varieties of dishes present on the table. The soldiers standing around the table were looking at them weirdly.
"They don't even have a shred of dignity..." One of them said.
"Eat it quickly or it will be gone!" Zoro said while putting a piece of meat towards his mouth but before he could eat it, a rubbery had taken it away.
" You should say that to yourself." Kei who was sitting beside him said while eating her food.
"What?" Zoro asked while turning to look at her but soon saw the rubbery coming towards her plate. A smirk formed on his face thinking that her food will be taken away soon as well, but as soon as the hand reached her plate, she instantly swatted his hand away. Zoro looked at her in shock because that was damn fast.
"Don't even think about it." Kei said while glaring at Luffy. Luffy immediately retracted his hand and went for Usopp's food instead "Do you have a sixth sense?" Zoro asked in shock.
"Maybe." she said while shrugging her shoulders.
Chopper on the other hand was filling his mouth with spaghetti."Hey, hey, if you eat in a hurry like that you'll....." Sanji said in concern.
"We have a lot! So it's okay" Vivi said with a smile.
"Well then wait and see Luffy. I'll put Tabasco star in this." Usopp said with a smirk as he removed a bottle of Tabasco star from his pocket and poured it on top of the rice ball on his plate.
As soon as he poured it, Luffy reached out and stuffed it in his mouth. Soon his face started turning red and fire came out of his mouth. Usopp burst out laughing at him.
"Delicious!" Nami said happily while eating her food. "Now, here's more" Terracotta-san said while placing more dishes on the table.
"Can I have another mug full?" Zoro asked with a mug in his hand.
"Hey, we need some water here!!" Sanji yelled because Chopper besides him was choking on his food now.
"What a noisy table." one of the soldiers said. "They are too vulgar to keep watching..." The other one said. The food on the table kept disappearing as more dishes kept coming. Vivi started laughing while looking at them.
The soldiers couldn't understand why she laughed but soon looking at the chaos, they started laughing as well. Usopp and Chopper were now dancing on the table with chopsticks stuck up on their nose.
Everyone single person present in the room had now started laughing It was a very lively dinner.
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The strawhat's were now in front of their ship and it was still night. When they got a call from Bon-chan saying that he has their ship, everyone was shocked.
They hesitated a little first, not able to trust him fully but in the end, they had no other choice but to go. They had told Vivi that they will wait for her near the eastern harbor at exactly none tomorrow. If she couldn't make it at that time, they would have no other option but to leave without her.
" If you want to continue traveling with us, that moment is the only chance to come aboard" is what Nami had said to her before they came here.
"I've been waiting for you guys!! Long time no see!!" Bonclay said while standing on the crow's nest of Going Merry.
"We're here!' Zoro said to everyone while getting off of the ducks. They had traveled the desert with help of the ducks again." Okay, unload! Thanks, you guys!" Sanji said. Everyone just ignored Bonclay and did their own thing.
They waved goodbye to the ducks as they started running back towards the castle. "Goodbye!!!" Luffy yelled while waving his hands as everyone else did the same.
"I'll see you..... definitely see you again someday!!" Bonclay waved to them as well with tears in his eyes.
"Why is he crying?" Chopper said in confusion.
" Just let him be." Kei said. When Bonclay realized what he was doing he said" Wait a sec!"
"What?" Sanji asked in irritation with knitted eyebrows."Don't 'what' me! That's not how you should treat your friends!" He said while stomping his foot angrily." What do you mean friends? We are enemies, you lied to us!" Luffy said.
" I didn't lie. I didn't know it either!" he explained. Kei picked up her belongings and started climbing on the ship.
"Listen! If I wasn't on this ship now, what do you think would have happened to it?!"
"It would've been taken away from the Navy, right?" Nami said. The strawhat's were now starting to load all the stuff they brought in Alabasta on the ship.
"What?!" Luffy said in shock at what Nami said.
"The whole island is completely blocked by navy ships! It's blocked!" Bom-clay explained.
"What?! Then you protected Going Merry from the Navy?!" Luffy asked.
Usopp-" Why?!"
Chopper-"How come?!!"
"Because we are friends, wa yo~~!" Bonclay said in tears while giving a thumbs up and they looked at him in shock. As always, they believed and started dancing with hands around each other's shoulders happily while the others just sweatdropped at the scene.
TO BE CONTINUED.