A bright light shone from an island not too far off from the Red Line. The light was emanated from a small spring, on poneglyph standing proud at the center. Many offerings had been made to this spring, baskets upon baskets of fresh crops laid beside the large stone, flower bouquets and crowns decorated the top. As the light slowly started to fade away, a woman emerged from the spring's water, gasping her first breath of air.
As she stood up, water cascaded down her body, soothing her smooth skin. The water beneath her bare feet splashed with every gentle step she took. Nearing the edge of the spring, she gazed down upon the valley beneath, eyes narrowing at the sight of marine ships docked at the north beach, and the tiny caravel docked to the west.
-
"Hey look! That island is glowing!" Luffy pointed out to the pillar of light coming off of an island not too far off.
"Island?" The ships navigator inquired. "That should be impossible! Loguetown is supposed to be the closest island to the Red Line." Grabbing her sea chart, Nami examined the prints, looking for any sort of land form. "Strange." She muttered, attracting the attention of the crew.
"What's wrong Nami-san?" Sanji asked, taking a drag from his cigarette. Nami showed the map to the crew, pointing to a spot surrounded by ocean.
"We're here. There's no island around us, meaning this island has appeared out of nowhere." The crew all sighed, looking to their captain who looked more excited than ever.
"Woohoo! Mystery island! Nami! Let's go!"
"Yeah, yeah." Nami placed down the sea chart, rubbing her temples. Pointing to each member of the crew, Nami gave everyone an assignment, directing the Going Merry towards the glowing island.
As they neared the island, they saw a fleet of Marine ships docked at the shore.
"Marines? Why are there so many?" Usopp took out his telescope, trying to find any sort of clue as to why so many Marines were present. Finding nothing, he turned to his crew mates, giving them a shrug. Humming to herself, Nami looked around, spotting an isolated beach on the west side of the island. Pointing to it, Nami requested that they docked there, the crew immediately getting to work.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Usopp asked, watching as Zoro threw down the anchor with ease.
"We don't really have a choice, considering who our captain is." Nami replied. The two looked over, sweatdropping at the sight of their captain cheering as he stood upon Merry's head.
"She's right. Besides, we're strong enough to take them all down." Zoro placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, facial expression relaxed, as if the thought of so many marines didn't bother him one bit.
Climbing down from the ship's rope ladder, the crew finally set foot on the island, now noticing that the pillar of light has faded away.
"I wonder if there's a village on this island." Nami inquired as Luffy ran ahead of the group, reaching the peak of the trail. Looking down, the male saw a tiny village in a valley.
"Hey! I see something down there!" He announced to his crew, waving them over with one hand while pointing to the base of the valley with the other.
Walking over towards their captain, the crew's gaze set on the village.
"I guess that answers my question." The navigator stepped forward before turning around to face the crew. "Alright, I want all of you to get information on this island. But be as discreet as possible and avoid the marines at all cost!" Turning towards the captain to her side, Nami whacked his head, gaining a pout from him. "That means you Luffy." Nodding in agreement, the crew all made their way down towards the village.
-
The buildings were old fashioned, roofs made of straw, walls and fences made of branches and neatly chopped trunks. Walking through the village, the crew noticed the abundant amount of Omikuji* and talisman hanging from the roofs and fences.
"Is this place cursed or something?" Zoro muttered, examining one of the talisman. Sanji scanned the buildings and trail.
"Where is everyone? Is this place abandoned?" He bit the tip of his cigarette lightly, an uneasy feeling going through his body.
"Let's try the bar." Nami jabbed her thumb towards the building decorated with a large sign reading 'Peak's Bar'.
Surprisingly, the building was jam packed, villagers paying no mind to the newcomers. Carefully, the Straw Hats walked towards the bar, seeing a woman cleaning a glass, talking casually to one of the villagers downing whiskey.
"Excuse me." Nami grabbed the woman's attention, a stoic expression upon her face.
"Ah, newcomers. Have a seat." She gestured toward an empty table.
"Actually, we were wondering if we could get some information on this island." Setting the now clean glass down, the woman looked at Nami, placing her hands on her hips.
"Sure, what would you like to know?" Setting out the sea chart that Nami brought along with her, the navigator pointed to their exact location.
"We're right here, there shouldn't be an island. What is this place?" Not bothering to look at the chart, the woman squatted down, grabbing something from behind the bar. Placing it down, the crew saw that it was a chart of the stars and a map of what seems to be the island they're on.
"This island isn't grounded. It travels under certain constellations. The island will glow every time it reaches a constellation, signaling a three day standstill." Pointing to an 'X' between two large hills, the woman continued. "We're here. These two hills are known as the Dueling Peaks, the valley between them is known as the Lurelin Valley. This village is Lurelin." Nami looked at the map and astronomical chart, letting out a few quiet noises of awe.
"What's with all the talisman and Omikuji?" Zoro spoke up, wanting an answer to his own question.
"Those are used to keep evil away from our Goddess." The swordsman raised a brow.
"Goddess?" The woman nodded, pointing to a new spot on the map.
"This is her spring, travel up the trail towards the south side of the Lurelin Valley, there you will find a hill. Climb it and you will find her." Pushing the a bottle of sake towards Nami, the woman smiled and winked. "It's best to bring an offering. She likes sake."
Smiling, Nami thanked her, having to pull Luffy away from the bar as he begged for food. But before they could leave, a man sitting at a table near them abruptly stood up, abandoning the cloak that he wore. The Straw Hats stood in shock as the marine revealed himself, a smirk present on their face.
"Thanks for finally sharing the location of your 'Goddess' Din." The woman glared at the man.
"You! I told you to never come back here!" The man walked up towards the bar.
"You should've known that I'd find a way back." Swiping the sake bottle from Nami, the man opened it before taking a swig. "Ah! I'll be taking this!" He walked towards the exit, "And I'll be taking your 'Goddess' as well." With that, he walked out, heading towards the fleet of ships to inform his men of his newly found information.
Din let out an annoyed cry. "That bastard!" Turning towards the Straw Hats, the woman pleaded. "I know I have no right to ask you of this, but please, hurry and find her! Warn her!" The woman handed Nami the map. "Don't let them get to her." The Straw Hats nodded, running out the bar before making their way towards the spring.
-
As the Straw Hat crew made their way up towards the spring, they noticed a twinkling, their eyes squinting to keep from taking in too much light. Advancing forward, they saw that the twinkling lights were caused by reflections in the spring water and the glistening rocks around it. Luffy's eyes sparkled as he saw all the fresh crops sitting in front of a strange rock, shaped as a giant cube, marked with some sort of calligraphy.
"Food!" He barely took a step forward before he was tackled to the ground, a sharp rapier pointed beneath his chin.
The attacker didn't spare a glance to the katakana placed beneath her own chin, simply glaring down at the rubber boy.
"What are you doing here? What do you want?" She pressed forward a bit, not caring that the sword beneath her started to press into her.
"I sent them here." A woman walked up the trail behind them, slightly startling them. Looking up and giving a glare, the attacker spat out the woman's name.
"Din." Said woman made a gesture with her hands, 'shooing' the attacker away. With slight hesitancy, the attacker stepped back, retreating towards the spring's water.
"If you're not here to leave an offering, I suggest you leave." Before Din could reply, a loud voice boomed out from behind them.
"Celestial Being L/n Y/n! You are under arrest! Do not resist, or we will shoot!" Marines surrounded the spring, guns ready and pointed straight at her. The pirates stiffened, unsure of what to do.
"I don't believe you're in a position to tell me what to do." Leaning down, y/n placed her hand in the spring's water, all the while glaring at the marine Commander. "Aquarius.." Shooting her hand out of the water, a large wave emerged from the spring. "Wave!" Swinging her arms to the side, the wave split in two, rushing over the marines surrounding her.
Exhaling deeply, y/n turned around, picking up a soaked piece of bread that was floating in the water. "Now look what you made me do, my offerings have gotten wet." She pouted, irritating the marine Commander.
"You bitch!" He raised his own gun, preparing to fire. Before he could aim properly, Din stood in front of y/n, blocking his sight of her. The man glared at her. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of the way!" Shaking her head, Din raised her arms.
"If you want her, you'll have to shoot me first!" Y/n looked at the woman, slightly stunned.
"Din?.." The woman simply smiled.
"That girl may be our Goddess, but she is like a daughter to me." The marine smirked, placing his finger over the trigger.
"I guess that makes you a criminal as well."
It all seemed to go in slow motion. With a loud bang, a bullet made it's way through Din's stomach, a yelp of pain escaping her mouth.
"Din!" Y/n gasped, placing a hand over her mouth, eyes wide in shock as the woman before her coughed up a good amount of blood. Her breaths sped up as Din fell to the floor before the marine, her eyes become blinded with rage. But before she could make a move to attack, the marine Commander had a fist thrust into his cheek, sending him flying.
Furrowing her brows in confusion, y/n looked to the man in the straw hat, the one she had attacked. He looked mad, but she couldn't imagine why.
"Small fries like you have no right to decide who's a criminal or not." He huffed, placing his hands on his hips. Shaking herself out of her shock, y/n ran over to the woman on the floor, turning her over on her back, making the woman grunt in pain.
"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm gonna heal you, just stay still." She tried to calm herself down, but she couldn't seem to calm her breaths. "Shit." Her pupils constricted, her bottom lip crushed between her teeth. A hand was placed upon y/n's cheek, gently stoking the soft flesh.
"Breath." Din, despite being in such a situation, had not an ounce of fear on her face, her eyes caring no tears of pain, only kindness.
Nodding, y/n closed her eyes, slowing her erratic breaths. Seeing Din so calm made her feel better. Placing two hands above the bullet wound, y/n inhaled deeply. A bright purple light shown from the palms of her hands, pressing down lightly on the wound, y/n winced as Din groaned lightly but didn't stop the process, pressing down slightly more. While she worked, the straw hats watched in awe, not making a sound as to not distract her. Y/n exhaled forcefully as she brought her hands away from the wound, her next few breaths short and uneven as she felt extremely fatigued.
"I couldn't heal the whole thing, but I managed to get rid of the bullet and any internal bleeding." She told the woman before standing up and turning abruptly. "One of you, help me carry her back to the village." The pirates were snapped out of their daze as she spat out the order.
"Of course Miss y/n!" Sanji immediately put himself forward, happy to be of help to two amazingly beautiful women. Helping Din stand up, Sanji lifted the woman up bride style.
"Oi, if you drop her, you're dead." Y/n threatened with a stoic expression, not waiting for the blond's response before leading the group back down the hill towards the village.
Y/n watched as Din offered her a smile, walking with the village doctor's assistance into the clinic. Sighing, y/n sat on the stairs leading up to the clinic, placing her head into her hands.
"Y/n, was it? Are you alright?" Nami cautiously took a seat next to the woman, worried about her well-being. Sighing, y/n didn't respond. Lifting her head, y/n scanned the group of pirates.
"Who are you?" She finally spoke up. The navigator, pointed to each crew member, introducing them.
"The one smoking is Sanji, the swordsman next to him is Zoro, the one with the long nose is Usopp, I'm Nami, and that idiot over there is our captain Luffy."
Y/n couldn't help but stare at Luffy. She was fairly good at reading people, but for some reason she could not understand anything about this man.
"Luffy." She muttered out his name, grabbing his attention. "Why did you fight?" She asked him, staring right into his ebony eyes. He smiled slightly, pointing towards the clinic.
"She seemed like she was important to you, so I wasn't going to let that guy harm the friends of my nakama." Y/n furrowed her brows.
"Nakama?" Usopp looked at his captain as if he grew a second head.
"Oi! Go over this stuff with your crew first before you decide such things!" Zoro sighed and poked Luffy's head with the butt of his sheathed sword.
"It's no use Usopp, you know that." Zoro huffed.
"I've decided that she would be my nakama! It's only fitting for the future King of Pirates to have a Goddess on his crew!" Luffy let out a laugh. The crew started arguing with the captain, telling him how he shouldn't force this upon the girl. They were all shocked to hear her response.
"Okay." The group stared at her in shock.
"Really?!" She nodded, looking back towards the clinic.
"It's best if I stayed away from here. I've no reason to be here, and I have no right to bring everyone into danger." She turned back, her gaze locked straight forward, gazing at nothing in particular. The crew sat in silence for a while, not knowing what to say.
"Y/n-san, if you don't mind me asking, why are the marines after you?" Sanji asked, finally breaking the silence after lighting the butt of a new cigarette.
"I've lived a long time. I've seen a lot of things. A lot of things that the world government doesn't want to be shared." Y/n tilted her head back, staring at the shining stars above, calming her nerves slightly. "I'm simply a criminal for existing." The crew shared glances.
"Y/n, just how old are you?" Y/n smiled slightly, amused at the sense of confused aura surrounding the whole crew.
"I've lost count of the years, but I'm most likely around 1000." Their jaws dropped.
"1...1000?!" They exclaimed, making y/n wince from the loudness.
"B-But, how is that possible?!" Usopp stammered.
"How do you look so young?" Zoro inquired, Luffy nodding along.
"Yeah, you don't look like an old grandma."
Y/n waved them off. "Relax. It's simple. Ever heard of a phoenix?" The crew thought for a bit.
"You mean that mystical bird of fire?" Nami asked, her hand grasping her chin as she thought.
"Yeah. My aging works that way. Every 3/4's of a century, I'll rebirth, whether or not I was alive doesn't matter. That spring from earlier was my birthing place this time around." Sanji smiled, hearts in his eyes.
"Y/n-swan is still exquisite, even being 1000 years old!" This time, Sanji's head got the butt of Zoro's sword, knocking him from his love dance.
"How long ago was your rebirthing?" Nami asked, ignoring the swordsman and cook, already used to their shenanigans.
"I'd say it's been around 20 years. I never count anymore." Y/n shrugged. "I only get a guess at what year it is because this island travels under the constellations." She pointed up to the sky, the crew's eyes following her finger. "The one we're under now is Pisces, one of my favorites." Y/n felt a smile growing on her face, as she felt so at ease under the stars.
"You're heading out towards the Grand Line, correct?" Y/n asked. Luffy nodded firmly.
"Of course! That's where One Piece is, so we have to go there!" He responded. Y/n nodded, standing up.
"We should get moving then. Today is the second day under a constellation. The island will be on it's way again after tomorrow." She explained before pointing towards Peak's Bar. "I suggest grabbing rations before we leave. I'll meet you back here in a few hours, I have some things I need to do first. Nodding, they split up, y/n heading towards her spring atop the hill.