Chapter 83- The identity of the mysterious man?! Juli disappears from the archipelago!
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"Oh no, no, no. I should be the one to apologize for running over a lady..." The man, Juli had bumped into, rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed and chuckled nervously, what sounded so beautiful to Juli's ears. "So, I sincerely apologize, miss. Let me help you to stand up as apology." He smiled at her and extended his hand to her.
Juli blinked at that in surprise and smiled back at the man towering over her. She took his hand and so the man helped her to stand back up. "No worries-" Juli froze in mid-sentence stunned, as she finally could get a good look at man in front of her, who had to be about the size of Aokiji. But that was not what surprised her so much as she studied the appearance of the stranger... He had short, curly hair that was colored in a beautiful blonde-golden tone, which looked like honey when the sun hit the man's curls. He had a very fair skin tone that complimented his unbelievable clear, vivid blue eyes as well as his charming, bright smile. The man was wearing a loose, open white shirt, that complimented his well-toned chest. He also wore loose, rolled-up light blue trouser and white sneakers as well as a golden, simple necklace. All in all, Juli would definitely admit that the man in front of her was gorgeous, but that was not what stunned her or really intrigued her.... What made her feel confused and in awe was the fact that the man was just so...bright? It was just like there was a radiating bright aura of light that was surrounding the man, but not visible to her eyes. As soon as that thought shot into her head, a weird familiar feeling built up at the pit of her stomach, making her feel dizzy and shake her head to dispel the dizziness, tho the feeling of familiarity stayed. "Excuse me if I sound rude, but did we meet before?" Juli asked the stranger thoughtfully, not being able to figure out why he felt familiar and also... why he was just so bright and full of light.
The man blinked at that before smiling charmingly. "I don't believe we have. Uh, how rude of me to not introduce myself. My name is Sancti Soriel. It's nice to meet you, miss."
Juli's eyes widened at that in surprise and she titled her head thoughtfully. 'Soriel...? He has the same name as Seinaru's patriot and alleged Archangel.... What a weird, but interesting coincidence.' She smiled cheerily. "It's very nice to meet you, Soriel-san. I'm Kurama Juli."
Soriel's smile widened at that. "What a lovely name that is, Juli-chan. But anyway...What brings you to this island? Are you also here to visit the amusement park?" He asked her intrigued, but by the mention of amusement park, his eyes started to gleam in childish excitement, looking for a split second like a little boy that wants to go on a ferris wheel for the first time ever.
Juli giggled amused at that. "No, I'm visiting this island with my nakama." Her smile saddened a bit at that.
Soriel frowned at that as he noticed it. "Did something happen?" He asked her worried.
Juli shook her head softly at that. "No, it's nothing really... We just got separated. No need to worry, Soriel-san." She told him evasive.
Soriel nodded thoughtfully at that. "I see..." He decided not to press any further and continued to do some casual small talk with Juli, really enjoying talking to her, tho that did not surprise him.
Juli smiled as she talked to Soriel...and even when she just met him a few moments ago, she oddly felt at ease near him... Well, that was until she felt a strong presence pop up by where she felt her nakama as well as Kizaru and Rayleigh were earlier. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and her head snapped in that direction. '...Kuma-kun?! What is he doing there-' Her eyes widened in shock and she stumbled back a bit horrified as she felt how Zoro's presence...just vanished. It was just there a second ago, but then gone... Nothing...Zoro just was gone. "W-What is going on...?!" She gasped out.
Soriel narrowed his vibrant blue eyes at that and carefully touched her shoulder in concern. "Are you alright, Juli-chan?"
Juli blinked as she felt how Usopp's presence also vanished. She shook her head in confusion and sweat started to run down her face as Luffy's strong panicked and desperate emotions hit her head on. "I-I don't know..." She took a deep breath to calm down and think. First, she noticed how Kuma appeared there, with no ill intentions whatsoever, and then Zoro vanished as well as Usopp... She took another deep breath, slowly calming down a bit, even when her nakama's presences were vanishing... Because she remembered something that she had heard about Kuma's power... And that was that the Shichibukai can send people flying to another place in an instant. She shook her head softly, as she realized that Kuma just did this to save her nakama...even when it was a bit extreme and dramatic...but with marines all around him, he can't do more and she was just glad that Kuma was willing to help them. 'Lu...' Juli thought worried as her brother's panicked emotion increased to an extent that he broke down before he also vanished. She closed her eyes at that. 'Thank you for helping us.... Kuma-kun.'
As she then opened her brilliant turquoise eyes and looked back to Soriel, she noticed in surprise how he was looking at her seriously and thoughtfully.
"I'm sorry Juli-chan, but I believe I don't have much more time left..." Soriel told her seriously before concentrating.
"Huh? What do you mean with that Soriel-san?" She asked him in utter confusion and tilted her head. Her eyes widened in surprise as her limbs suddenly started to feel heavier as well as her head started to get really dizzy....while something golden surrounded her...?! Was she seeing that right or hallucinating?! "...Eh?!" She got out and then looked back to Soriel...just for her to stare utterly surprised, shocked and flabbergasted at him...or more likely what she saw appear behind him. For a split second, it looked to her like huge, majestic white wings appeared on Soriel's back as well as his eyes turned from blue to a strongly glowing golden color. "Y-You're really-"
Soriel's intimidating but beautiful golden eyes stared right into her soul. "It was nice to finally meet you, but I believe this is a farewell for now. Continue your journey... Until we meet again, Kurama Juli." 'I'm sorry for all the pain we have caused you and will cause you... But we can't change the flow of history.'
And just with that, Juli felt suddenly so light like she never had felt before... as light as a feather before everything went black as it felt like her stomach turned around.
Soriel's vivid blue eyes watched how the golden light vanished together with Juli before he cracked his neck. "Mission accomplished I guess." He mumbled to himself before sighing. "I wish I could go to the amusement park...." He pouted like a child. "But if I don't report back immediately, Michael will rip off my head. I already took longer than I should have to talk with Juli-chan..." Soriel rolled his eyes fondly and made sure that nobody was close him...wouldn't be good if a mortal sees his disguise drop. "Cranky Michael needs to chill. He never lets me have any fun..."
So, after Soriel was really sure nobody was near him, he fully dropped his disguise. He spread out his huge, majestic white angel wings as his eyes turned a rich, glowing golden color as well as a really faint glowing halo appeared around his head. A strong, intimidating and visible bright aura appeared around him before he, without saying one more word, shot right into the sky at lightning speed, so fast that no human would ever be able to trace his motion or see more than a faint glimmer in the sky.
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A few moments ago, with Rayleigh...
After the Strawhats disappeared with Kuma's help, Rayleigh retreated as quick as possible, hoping to get away from the marines' attention... but he should definitely lay low for some time. However, before that he wants to check on Juli, to see if everything's alright. So, he concentrated on her presence and rushed towards her, especially when he felt something weird next to her. But then, her presence completely disappeared and he stopped dead in his tracks. '...Huh? What happened? Did Kuma send her away as well?' He narrowed his eyes in confusion before sighing. 'Whatever happened, I was too late... I guess that leaves me only with the option of going into hiding for now.'
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With Juli...
Juli regained her consciousness as she crashed hardly into something and could hear wood splitter around her. 'W-What just happened...?' She thought in utter confusion as she slowly sat up and grabbed onto her head as it stung painfully. She still felt a bit nauseous as she looked around the crater, she was in...just to stare at some people who looked at her utterly flabbergasted. "...Huh?"
"EEEEHHHH?! CAPTAIN, A GIRL JUST FELL FROM THE SKY!" A man with very spiky red hair shouted towards his captain utterly flabbergasted.
"Are you serious?! Hahahaha...I think you drank too much sake, Rockstar! There's no way something like this would happen." An all too familiar voice sounded towards Juli... A voice, she wouldn't have expected to hear again this soon.
Juli's eyes widened emotionally as a familiar red-head stepped in front of her. She couldn't believe it...after all this time...does she really have found him?
Shanks laughed and still waived Rockstar off, thinking their newest member was hallucinating or something until he turned his head to look at the 'girl' that fell from the sky. But who he then saw sitting in front of him...was someone he never expected to see again. He chocked on his laugh and his eyes grew wide, the bottle of sake slipping out of his hands and burst on the ground. Shanks whole body started to shiver as he stared at Juli in shock, not believing...not being able to believe that this was reality. For how long did he wish that his daughter would just appear here on his ship, alive and well? Or that he read about her well-being in the newspaper and that the destruction and mass-murders on Seinaru was just some fake news? So...now that this was happening... Was it really true?! Or just a dream?! Tears gathered in the man's eyes as he saw how the girl stared emotionally back to him. The more he looked at her, the more it was getting clearer to him that it has to be his daughter... Her turquoise eyes, her beautiful hair, her soft face...her full-moon tattoo. A hiccoughing sob escaped his throat at that and his vision blurred from his tears as he just stood there...frozen in place. "...J-Juli....?" He chocked out before his voice broke.
Just the mention of her name by her father with so much emotion laced into it made Juli's eyes water before tears started to stream down her face. "...D-Daddy..." She called for him with a shaky voice.
Shanks sniffed at that...Just hearing her voice was enough to convince him. He rushed towards her while fully breaking down and crying heavily as he crashed her into a hug, hugging her so tightly as if he feared that when he lets her go, she will disappear. "M-My l-little princess..." He sobbed out as he buried his face in her hair.
Juli hugged her father tightly back with tears streaming down her face as she smiled utterly happily. "I'm here.... I'm alright, dad..."
Shanks chocked on his sob at that before fully starting to wail...letting all his grief, pain and emotions wash out of his body as he just cried it out. "Waah... I-I... I...really thought...you were..." His voice broke and he hugged her even tighter...if that was possible.
"I'm sorry... So sorry...." Juli whispered in apology to him while letting her father cling to her, her own emotion being all whirled up... She just can't believe that in one second, she sees.... She sees Seinaru's patriot who really exists and in the next second, she's reunited with her father.
Ben Beckmann watched the reunion of father and daughter with a smile, feeling really glad to also see the not-so-little-anymore bean alive and well. He's not going to lie, but his eyes might have been a few notches wetter than before. But well, apparently not as much as... He looked to the side and sweat dropped when he saw how Lucky Roo and Yasopp hugged each other while also crying heavily, almost as much as Shanks... together with Rockstar and the rest of the crew, that didn't even get to meet Juli before, crying their eyes out and cheering. '...Why am I the only sane person on this ship...' He thought in fondness before looking with a soft smile back to Shanks and Juli, who were clinging to each other like their life depended on it.
About twenty minutes later...
Juli, as well as Shanks had calmed down enough to stop crying and slowly progressed their sudden reunion. Juli still had no idea how she ended up here or everything regarding Soriel, but if it was his doing, she was thanking him from the bottom of her heart for this. She smiled softly and looked up to her father. "...Dad, will you let go of me now, please?"
"No!" Shanks shouted immaturely in protest, still clinging to her afraid of her disappearing as soon as he let's her go.
Juli's smile dropped at that a bit and she sighed sadly. "I'm not going to disappear when you let me go... I promise."
Shanks hesitated before he slowly let go off her. He sighed in relief as he saw that she was still there and did in fact not vanish. He ran his fingers through his messy red hair. "...I still can't believe that you're sitting here in front of me... It seems just so unreal..." He shook his head as his eyes watered again, cursed and hectically wiped his tears away.
Juli smiled softly at that. "I know... But it's reality." She told him softly before looking ashamed to the ground. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to get to you sooner... The function in my necklace was destroyed, so I couldn't reach you with it...."
Shanks narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at that and sighed before looking at his daughter seriously. "I'm just really glad you're alive, my little princess. But, just... what happened?! How did you end up falling from the sky?! Who destroyed Seinaru? Why did the newspaper say you died? Where were you all the time? Are you alright after such a fall?! Oh no I think we need the doc real quick! What if you have a concussion! Nuuu! Can't let this happen!" He rambled out way too quickly for Juli to understand everything.
Juli just smiled fondly at that, while sweat dropping.
"Shanks... Slow down there. Geez, you can't just run the poor bean over like that." Ben scolded him fondly as he stepped towards them with a small smile.
Juli's eyes widened at that and she smiled happily. "Uncle Bennie! It's been so long!~" She cheered and crashed him into a hug.
Ben chuckled softly at that and petted her head. "You sure grew a bit, little bean. I guess I can't call you that anymore."
Juli just smiled at that happily as she clung to Ben.
"Oi! Why does Bennie get hugs but not me?!" Shanks shouted in protest and pouted at her, making Juli giggle and Ben roll his eyes fondly.
"Grow up Captain." Ben told him fondly as Juli let go of him.
"Oh! Yasopp! Roo! It's so nice to see you again!" Juli shouted cheerily as she spotted them. "And some new faces as well~ Nice to meet you." She smiled cheerily and happily in greeting.
"JULI!" Roo and Yasopp cried out before jumping towards her, ready to tackle her into a hug....but instead ended up crashing face first on the floor as Shanks had pulled her away from them.
"No touching my daughter, understood!" He snapped at them with a dark voice while hugging Juli protectively, who just blinked in confusion before giggling amused.
Ben just sweat dropped at that. 'There we go again... Overprotective daddy mode activated... I was waiting for that.' Ben thought with a deadpan expression before sighing as Shanks started to argue with Yasopp. "Stop arguing you two idiots."
"But Bennie~" Shanks whined at him.
"He started it!" Yasopp pointed with his finger at Shanks accusingly, who glared at him before pointing at him.
"No, he started it!" He shouted back while Roo in the background smiled and started to eat some meat.
"Both of you, shut up." Ben told the bickering two in mild annoyance before sighing as they in fact didn't stop. 'Why do I even bother anymore...Sometimes, I just feel like I'm babysitting a bunch of little brats...'
Juli just giggled amused before she looked at Rockstar approaching her.
"It's nice to be able to meet you, Juli-san. I heard a lot about you from Shanks-san. I'm Rockstar, the newest member." Rockstar introduced himself to her and stretched out his hand.
Juli smiled at him warmly and kindly. "You were the one who found me, right, Rockstar-san? It's very nice to meet you as well." She told him cheerily and Rockstar actually blushed at her kind and warm smile...before getting punched back before Juli could even shake his hand.
"OH HELL NO! NO TALKING TO MY DAUGHTER IF I'M NOT NEXT TO HER!" Shanks snapped at him furiously.
"I'm sorry sir!"
Juli sweat dropped at that and Ben just sighed and face-palmed. 'And now he's overreacting... I think he has lost it.'
"Ehm... Are you alright, dad?" Juli asked him with a nervous smile, confused to why he was acting that violently towards his newest crewmember.
"Aww~ My precious little princess is worried over me~ Don't worry, daddy is alright! Daddy never felt better when he protects his cute daughter!" He told her happily as flowers appeared around his head, his demeanor making a 180-degree turn.
Juli smiled relieved at that and giggled amused. "I see, I'm glad.
Ben just hit his head at that and groaned. 'Yep, this is a mess. Our Captain is going nuts while we're on our way to Kaido. That's just great.' But the Vice-Captain couldn't help but smile fondly, looks like Shanks was finally back to his old lively self...even though he might need to calm down a bit, because all these emotional changes sure enough weren't good for the red-haired man's health.... And for his nerves per say.
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Hey guys! So, that was Chapter 83. How did you like it? :) Oof... A lot... A LOT interesting stuff happened this chapter... from Juli meeting Soriel to her finally reuniting with her father (what took me forever to write because...the feels...the feels... X,D ) and Shanks activating his overprotective dad mode. XDD This chapter was just so fun to write! :D Anyway, I would love to get to know what you think about Soriel, and what his part in this world is. So, if you have any theories, hit me up with them. XD Well, I certainly hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did. Have an amazing rest of your week and see you in the next chapter! :3
Fun fact: Soriel's last name 'Sancti' is Latin and is used before names when you describe a person (or thing) as holy. ( So, Holy Soriel literally. XD)