Chapter 5: Guardian of the Island of Snow
"We're here!" Wendy smiled.
Robin reached for the knob and opened it.
A man sat there. A woman walked downstairs and stared at the visitors.
"I see... Visitors, am I correct?" she smiled.
"Aye!" Happy replied.
"Let's see. Head count, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15" the woman counted each of them. "Follow me and I'll show each of you your rooms"
Everyone started following her except Wendy. She looked back outside.
"There... There's something wrong about this island. Something's not right" she thought.
"Wendy-chan, aren't you coming?" Chopper tugged on Wendy's dress.
"Oh..uh... let's go" Wendy shifted her attention back to reality as she and Chopper went back inside.
Somewhere near the said place...
"Aria-chan..." a girl of blue hair hid behind a tree as the lights in the building went out.
Wendy's POV
"Are you okay Wendy?" Lucy asked me.
"Un!" (Yes!) I lied.
"Ne, was this island like this ever since?" (Ne means hey) I asked to the lady.
"Iya (Nope). It started when the royal family was rumored they got cursed and died one after another. The king was killed and the villagers found him covered in his own blood, the queen was drugged to sleep and her body was burned and their daughters were supposed to live yet the eldest died because of getting buried alive because of an avalanche while the youngest drowned. They said the island was cursed and here's the result" Shiko, the lady answered. "Anyway, if you guys need something, don't be afraid to call" Shiko left the room immediately.
"This room has some info about this island..." Nami took a scroll from a shelf.
"What's that about?" Lucy asked as she motioned to look at paper.
This island was already called as is for it is shaped as a snowflake if you were to use bird's eye view.
A prosperous island this is with a generous bloodline of royal people yet there was one person who loathed them.
Hatre D. Abhor
He was a man with red dyed hair who was once the king's best friend. Mr. -Hatre, after severing ties, turned into a cold-hearted man who cared about no one except for himself. When angered, he kills anyone as fierce as blazing fire with no mercy and earned himself a bounty of 2,000,000 beli.
He passed away after getting caught up in a storm in the middle of the sea when he was chased by Marines. Days passed, they found out he drowned and recovered half of the body, discovering he was almost eaten by a Sea King.
"That's a horrible way to die..." Lucy commented.
I didn't pay attention anymore since I intently stared at the window and the view outside when it opened up due to the strong wind.
The lights blinked and the candles went out. As the wind filled the room, I heard a voice saying, "Welcome back..."
"Taku! (Geez) What's with this island?" Lucy closed the windows and sealed it properly.
"You okay Wendy?" Nami covered me with a blanket.
"H-hai (Yes)" I responded.
Welcome back? This was the first time I went to this island. Who would welcome me back?
Should I ask them if they heard anything? Nah, they should've reacted or something or maybe I'm just tired.
I went to bed, did my best to ignore my talkative mind and went to sleep.
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"These clothes are so comfy!" Happy smiled, poking his clothes. Shiko gave all of them some clothing to protect them from the very cold weather.
"Minna, let's play hide and seek!" Luffy cheered.
"Eh? But aren't we too many?" Franky scratched his head. "It'll take time for use to find each other in this big island"
"How about go by pairs?" Natsu spoke. "I'll team up with my pal Luffy"
"Agreed "Luffy gestured to Natsu.
So the partners/pairs were:
Luffy & Natsu
Zoro & Wendy
Sanji & Erza
Usopp & Lucy
Chopper & Nami
Robin & Franky
Brook, Gray & Juvia
"Yosh! Let's start! Luffy smiled as he and Natsu closed their eyes and started the countdown.
~Wendy and Zoro~
"Ne, Zoro-kun, where are you planning to go?" Wendy asked.
"I still don't have any idea..." Zoro admitted. "How about there?" He pointed to the foot of the island's snowy mountain.
"Okay..." Wendy followed as she and Zoro hid inside a small cave.
"I wonder if someone ever used this place" Wendy spoke her thought.
"Aria-chan...."
"Zoro-kun did you just say something?" Wendy asked.
"Huh? Nope" Zoro watched the surroundings. "Anyway, they should be finished with the countdown..." he narrowed his eyes and darted his attention to Wendy who was found with encircling snow around her.
"Oi, stop using your strength" Zoro told her.
"You're wrong" Wendy replied. "I didn't conjure this..."
"I'll be taking Aria-chan back" the same voice Wendy heard echoed in the cave.
"Wendy!" Zoro dashed forward but Wendy disappeared as snowflakes fell down in her place. "Tsk, where did she go?"
He stood there trapped in confusion and anxiety. "I don't know who owns that voice and who the hell is Aria?"
"We found you at last!!!" Natsu's voice entered the cave.
"Eh? Where's Wendy?" Luffy asked.
"Wendy's missing?" Lucy heard them talking.
"Nani?!" Nami entered the cave. "Oi, Zoro you were with her... What happened?"
~Back at the Diner~
"Someone said Aria?" Shiko asked.
"Do you know who this Aria is Ms. Shiko?" Brook asked.
"She's a princess of this island" a man answered.
"I thought the royal family was dead" Franky said.
"What Shiro here is trying to point out is that Aria was the young princess who drowned" Shiko replied. "But your friend Wendy resembles the princess when she died"
"Then since everyone knows about that, why did someone kidnap Wendy when they know that Aria died already?" Erza asked.
"Reincarnation..." Juvia voiced her thoughts.
"Reincarnation?" Robin repeated.
"Maybe that someone thought Aria-chan came back in her second life and that second life..." Juvia paused.
"...is Wendy" Gray continued.
~Still in the same Island~
Wendy's POV
I slowly opened my eyes and adjusted the light that entered.
"Where am I?" it was the first thing I said.
"Hello there" a voice pierced through the air.
Wendy sat up and looked around. "Who are you?"
The person just smiled. "You're still like before Aria-chan"
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I'm deeply sorry for not updating this story. I keep losing Chapter 5 when the computer crashes down. Thanks for reading anyway. I'll update this us soon as I can. Ja~ Tomorrow's our closing party :D