*Center of Conomi Islands. 2 weeks later*

By now I had managed to halfway awaken her observation haki and unfortunately, her armament haki hasn't gotten anywhere. I suppose that is because you need actual life and death fights to upgrade it. Though observation haki can be learned through just hard work. So my plan was similar ‘if not exactly the same’ as what Rayleigh had done with Luffy. I had her have a blindfold on the whole day and she was supposed to try to dodge attacks at random from me. But other than that I had her try her best to work on her “devil fruit”. Also, We need to get a weapon so we can protect ourselves better. After all, we all can't be like Luffy and just punch people to knock them out. And lastly, we need to work on Rokushiki. The six powers of CP9. I happened to learn them before I started out on my adventure. After all, one must be prepared. I have yet to show them to her as I want her to master her strength and haki first as they are more important. Now then, in order to actually work on techniques to weapons, we need to first get the materials, and to get the materials, we need to talk to the village people. Specifically, people like Nojiko because she can most likely hook me up with the right people to get the materials. After all, if I walked up to a random person and asked if they had any metal/smithing materials, they would obviously be wary of me. But with Nojiko, this problem is erased. But Medusa should probably stay here. I can't have her scaring off people with her appearance.

“Hey Medusa, I need to head out to the village. We need some materials.” I told her. She simply nodded before replying “be safe, OK?” I couldn't help but feel warm inside from hearing that. Aww, she’s just like a little housewife worrying for her husband. It was a nice feeling and one that I kept as I began to walk down to cocoyashi village.

When I arrived at the village I noticed that there was a commotion going on. People were running around, trying to get somewhere. Has Luffy arrived yet? No, he shouldn't have yet. I couldn't help but try to think about what the cause of what was happening, but then I remembered that there was the monthly payment from the village to long. I guess there should be about a month until he gets here. As for the people, they were trying to get home. People kept shutting their doors and not letting others in while the ones who couldn't find a house either banged on doors begging to be let in or they ran out of the village. Needless to say that it was all very chaotic. I continued searching for where Nojikos house was. I couldn't exactly ask around so it took me about a half hour. Though eventually, I did find it. It was a quaint little cottage with a large garden in the back of it. From what I could tell no one was home, but it may just be because she was locking her doors. I walked up to the door and knocked on it.

“Hello? Is anyone home? I need to talk to Nojiko.” I banged on the door while shouting out for her. After a while of hearing nothing, I was getting ready to start knocking again when I heard someone opening the door.

Out walked the woman that was known as Nojiko. Nojiko is an average-sized young woman with light blue hair and tanned skin. Her right arm and chest are heavily tattooed - a gesture of sympathy and condolence towards Nami, who was ashamed of her tattoo of Arlong's jolly roger.

She was wearing a beige sleeveless shirt, blue trousers, and purple sandals. Furthermore, she appears to wear pink lip gloss. She was about the same size as Nami in All Regards. Though she could be rather scary to others as she had an almost permanent frown on her face except when speaking to those that she loves.

“What do you want? The fishmen are coming around for payment soon and I can't be having you here with me.” She sounded stern and orderly. Though I simply responded with a smile and a quirky comment, “then we better hurry up, after all, Time is money.” I tried my best to get her to smile but she wasn't having any of it. “Alright alright, jeez, You see, I need materials. Specifically metals. I also need a forge or somewhere hot enough to melt metal. You don't have to give me the stuff, just point me in the direction.” She looked confused for a moment before telling me “If you plan to make a weapon then I tell you this now, Don't. You will simply get all of us killed.” Hearing that I knew exactly why she was telling me it but I decided to play the fool. “Why? As far as I know, it's not illegal to own weapons in the east blue.” she looked at me like I was a dumbass, which was perfectly fine because I was asking questions like one. “It might not be illegal in the entire east blue but it most certainly is illegal with arlong around.” I could see the anger on her face when mentioning her name but as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared.

“Whos arlong? I haven't heard that name before.” She looked genuinely shocked before asking me, “are you serious? It's arlong. I know for sure that he has a bounty.” I just looked at her confusedly before responding, “Well I don't really care who he is, can you just point me in the direction of the nearest forge?” I put on a fake annoyed face while she soon realized that she had been holding me up. “Ah, sorry. It's down the road and on the left. Just don't let anyone see you. Especially if they are fishmen. They just might try to kill you.” I then thanked her and walked away as she once more closed up and locked her house. Well, wanst that fun. At least I now know where to get weapons. I started to walk down the path that she had so kindly pointed out for me when I came across a small house. It was a little quaint but what set it apart from the others was the large oven/furnace in front of it. There was also an anvil but it was a little put-away, presumably to hide it. I looked around but I didn't see anyone around the forge. Might as well use it if no one else will. But first I need some metal. I immediately began to look around to see if there was any, so imagine my surprise when I came across a HUGE amount of scrap. I don't remember this being in the anime. Hell, not even the manga showed this. Oh well, might as well use it if no one else will. I then started to grab large amounts of the metal and I brought it back to the little house that I found. I then grabbed what looked like a large metal bucket and I threw other smaller pieces of metal in. Heres hoping this goes well. After that, I put the bucket aside and I started the furnace. It started slowly but soon enough it became a roaring blaze. I then put the pot on top of the fire. As I waited I gathered up some more scrap and I waited for the metal to heat to a boil. I then grabbed what looked like a sword mold but it was broken. So I decided that I would chop it in half and make metal ingots. I set out to work on my little project.

*Four hours later*

I had finally finished making the steel bricks and I would soon be able to start the work on the weapons. Though I couldn't help but be surprised by how far down the sun had gone. Ah, shit. I better get back to Medusa. I was about to start sprinting there when I remembered that if I just left the ingots here they would most likely get stolen. So I grabbed a small bag and I shoved all the ingots into it before breaking out into a run.

Five minutes later and I had reached our little home away from home. I saw Medusa simply lying down on the ground, but I knew what she was doing. She was training her observation haki by focusing on her surroundings and trying to keep track of everything at the same time. It was an interesting method but it both helped her multi-task and work on her haki so it's all good. She, however, started to get up when she sensed me get closer.

She was pouting a little and had a cute angry face on. I couldn't help myself from smiling at her. So cute. She just got more upset at seeing this.

“Where were you? I got so bored. I can only work so much alone without feeling bored.” I immediately went to her side and tried to comfort her with little words and a small hug. “Sorry, I got so focused on the task that I lost track of time. And before I realized it, I had been gone for hours. I hope you can forgive me.” I just kept hugging her before she eventually hugged me back and stopped her pouting. “How about this, tomorrow I will be going back down to the village. How about you come with me and practice your haki on people. It will be better than to do it alone in the forest.” I offered. She seemed a little surprised at my recommendation because she knew that she would scare some people. Though I put her fears to rest. “I already have all the necessary items for it, I just need to craft it. So, wanna come with me?” She then dutifully nodded to my question leaving me just smiling. After that, we had yet another night to ourselves, which if I do say myself, we spent well.

The next morning we awoke in each other's arms as we slowly got up. “Mhhm. let's stay in bed a little longer.” I could hear Medusa mumbling her wishes to stay with me gathering warmth. It's like her animal's instincts are telling her to gather heat first thing in the morning. Though I ignored her request and I pulled her up before splashing a bit of water on her face to wake her up. She sputtered and spat before glowering at me slightly. Though I responded with “I told that You are going to be training. That means we must wake up early and get the most out of the day. Now get on your clothes. We are heading out.” as I said that I began to put on the clothing that Medusa had almost torn off me for the night. It was just a plain white shirt and black pants. Nothing more, nothing less. But it was all I needed to show off myself. My muscles naturally contracted against the shirt to the point where I know that if I flexed hard enough, I could rip the shirt off without touching it. Medusa dressed much more extravagantly than I ever would. She had on a small satin somewhat see-through shirt that covered her breasts and half of her abs but left the rest out in the open. Other than that she had on a small skirt made of the same material but with small amounts of gold outlying the skirt. On top of that, she wore a bunch of gold bracelets and a small golden band to hold her hair in place. All in all, she looked like the queen of succubi herself. And I couldn't help but feel angry when I thought of others looking at her with lust. So as we walked down towards the village I had my arm around her waist the entire time. She seemed to notice but she simply blushed a little and ignored it for the most part.

We eventually got down to the town and just as I suspected, medusa drew many eyes. Though she seemed insecure about it, she managed to keep others from suspecting. Though I could easily tell as she was gripping my hand much harder than before. So I simply leaned in, gave her a small side hug and a pat on the head and she began to let up on the pressure on my hand. We eventually arrived at the forge, where I immediately set down my bag of ingots which looked like it was about to rip from the weight. I didn't care much as I immediately started the fire in the forge again while Medusa created the blueprint for the weapon that she wanted. And after she was done I did so as well. It's going to be a good time here.

*4 Weeks later*

Down in the center of Conomi island was a pair of people, 1 man, and 1 woman. they were currently doing something. The woman was sitting down on the ground with a blindfold on and the man was holding a large stick in his hand as he swung down, trying to strike her head. He would walk around her, and bonk her on her head. And each time, she was hit she held her head from the pain as a large bump swelled up before trying again.

*Oceanus POV*

“Every attack has an intent behind it, don't attack blindly. Training with animals is an extremely easy task as long as you have good physical prowess. They hold all their emotions in their intent when they attack. Besides that, there are no animals large enough in the east blue for you to fight against so we will be focusing on fighting humans. Humans are much different from animals. They defy expectations and cheat others. I know that you have used it on the people in the village but let me tell you. They don't know how to hide their presence. You must learn.” as I spoke I was walking behind her. And as I prepared to strike, she suddenly shot her hand forward. Where there was nothing. I immediately struck her on the head while reprimanding her. “Your opponents won't always come from the front. There will be times that enemies will be all around you. You must learn.” we continued our little dance for the next few hours, of her trying to feel where I was coming from, attacking, missing by a large margin and the eventual ending for the night. Throughout the whole time, I kept the blindfold on her so she could continuously work on her haki. Through dinner, through hunting and sleeping. She was in total blackness the whole time. Soon enough we realized that a few weeks had passed.

By now Medusa could dodge most of my attacks so I decided that we would need to step it up a little. Honestly, she's such a little genius. I couldn't help but appreciate her as we trained. She kept up a courageous front and a warm smile.

Speaking of training though, I have managed to awaken her observation Haki, and I managed to get her to transform back to human form, though there are some differences. She basically is the same as before except for the fact that she no longer has a tail. Her skin stayed the same, along with her eyes and her hair. They are still snakes. I honestly can't get over that. Another thing is that we now have weapons. She uses a crossbow because it is similar to a rifle but has its own benefits.

It is silent, unlike a rifle which is loud as hell. Arrows are able to fly farther if there is wind to guide them easier/faster to load (though it holds less depending on the type) Lower recoil than a gun

But for however many advantages it has there are also

disadvantages. Such as if the person inst calm during a battle, they might die from failing to reload it. Or the fact that guns have a further range without winds and that they have higher penetrating power than arrows. But there are solutions to the last two. Haki and the type of crossbow you use. she was in the end, just as good a shot, if not better, than any marine with a gun. Hell if she got some training, I know for certain that she could equal yasopp. She appears to be extremely proud of her marksmanship and I must admit, it deserves any compliment that comes its way.

Spoiler: Medusa's crossbow

Spoiler: Gungnir

As for myself, I use a Naginata. Specifically a double bladed one. Though the second blade is able to be detached from the pole leaving a normal naginata. I prefer the naginata over glaives and other such things. My fighting style is both graceful, and powerful. Using spinning attacks frequently to get the most out of kinetic force. Though I already have a good deal of experience with polearms when I was growing up as it was my first weapon of choice.

No matter the circumstances I would always use a staff in a fight. It took a while but before long, the gangs lost interest in me. Though I will gladly admit that I've gotten rusty over the years that I haven't practiced. I've had to learn how to fight with one all over again.

One way of fighting I remember the best is simply spinning my weapon around me until I had enough kinetic force to seriously injure them, no matter where I hit. If I did it now, I could probably split someone in half. I honestly think too much of it. To the point that I even named it. I call it Gungnir. Gungnir was a special type of weapon in the fact that it could expand and shrink freely, similarly to Ruyi Jingu Bang, the staff used by Sun Wukong.

“Medusa, We must get ready. I can smell it. A Battle is nearing.” I spoke to Medusa after our sparring match as I knew that the time for Luffy to come would be in a few days and with him being here, there will be a good deal of battle. Let's see how far my techniques have come along. After telling her that she simply nodded, she walked up behind me and gave me a small hug. “Be careful. I can't be watching over you all the time.” I chuckled over her jokes but I could feel the warmth in her words, so I simply chuckled over her joke while responding with a light heart. “Of course, after all, I can take care of myself. After all, I'm going to be King Of All Waters.” We then both walked towards the town while we joked with each other.

We had just gotten about halfway to the village when we heard a scream and a loud *CRASH* come from somewhere in front of us. Medusa wanted to run ahead to check if it was enemies but I simply held her back and slowly walked forward to where the straw hats were.

There was a small group of people gathered together near the wreckage of what looked like a ship but it didn't seem normal as it was deep into the island. It was just Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Yosaku. They were simply talking to each other before Luffy mentioned ussop. This sent Zoro right into the action as he ran out. Though he couldn't do anything as Johnny came back to them and told them that Nami had already killed him. Though I took this time to come out of the forest with Medusa in tow. The others turned towards me as I did so.

“Why hello there again Luffy. Zoro how are you? Wheres nami?” I asked though I knew the answer. Zoro seemed surprised to see me again as if he was expecting to never see me after the first time while looked at me with a deadpanned face and asked: “Who are you again?” I just laughed at how strange he was. He's just like in the manga. He seemed serious though as he didn't laugh along with me. “My name is Oceanus Luffy. Honestly, It's not nice to forget someone's name after only two weeks. Zoro how are you? And wheres nami? Last I saw you guys seemed inseparable but now she's gone.” Luffy looked like a light bulb went off in his head at the mention of my name but as soon as he heard about nami he turned around towards Johnny pushed him to the ground and shouting at him how nami would never do that. I was just left alone with zoro so I asked the question, “What happened to nami?” He just looked at me before answering “She stole our boat back at the Baratie and sailed it back here. And just as we were about to look for our sniper, Ussop, we heard from Johnny that he was killed by nami.” I just listened to the news that I already knew with a calm expression before I answered, “I don't think that she did it.” the others looked a little shocked, except for Luffy who also believed that, and zoro even asked, “How would you know?” I just smiled and responded, “I have a good nose. She doesn't smell like any murderer I've met in my life. And I've known some of the most terrifying pirates to date.” the others looked skeptical at my response but I didn't give a damn. “Right then, good luck on finding her. Have a nice time. Oh and watch out for the fishmen. They might try to kill you if you are found out.” though zoro snorted and said “Yeah, I already found that out. The idiots tied me up and tried to kill me. Though I got out and I took all of them down except for arlong” I acted surprised but then when I heard some footsteps coming from down the road I turned and looked towards it and I saw nami coming on down. I continued to leave so she wouldn't notice me and, thankfully, she didn't. She was looking at Luffy who was still holding down Johnny and she started insulting them, their cause, and their actions. Specifically Zoros. After enough of it though, zoro got sick of it and tried to attack her but he was stopped by Sanji. This continued on for a while and after enough of it, Luffy just fell back and said, “I'm going to sleep.” nami got angry at him, screamed a bunch more and with that, she stormed off back to arlong park. I took this time to come back out and speak again. “You know, I always thought that Luffy was a little dumb but the more that you look at him, the more intelligent he seems.” the others looked incredulous at my words but I simply defended myself. “When he's told by his crewmate to leave or go and die, he just takes a nap until they themselves decide to ask for help. If he were to help her before that, well, it wouldn't go well.” the others seemed to understand what I was talking about. after that, Johnny and Yosaku decided it was best to leave as they didn't want to be hunted by Arlong. I took this time to go for real as I wanted to talk to nojiko. I walked there with Medusa, who for some reason had been completely silent as of late. I couldn't help myself as I asked, “Why are you so quiet around them? It's a little odd don't you think? Seeing as though you are the cutest and most talkative person I've ever met.” She simply smiled before answering, “Well I don't understand why you are so friendly around them. After all, you've only met them twice now, but you act like you've known them for your entire life.” I was a little surprised that she spotted that but the more I thought about it I realized that it would be weird if she didn't notice that with her background. I just smiled and said, “Fate works in mysterious ways doesn't it?” She seemed a little confused by my statement before promptly ignoring it as we continued back the village. We eventually got to Nojiko’s house which held no one inside at the moment. She must be talking to the others by now. Medusa and I entered the house but all we saw was Nami sleeping on top of the table. We decided to leave her along and instead of waiting, get food. After all, we hadn't had too much food today. I wonder… does she have chicken? I looked around and found the fridge where low and behold, there was chicken. I then started to cook for both me and Medusa. There will be a bit of time before the corrupt marine captain gets here so we might as well take a nap. I proposed my plan to Medusa who immediately accepted it for some reason. I shrugged it off and decided to simply sleep. We covered ourselves with a blanket and nodded off.

I jolted awake to shouting and people screaming. I slowly got up as Medusa simply rubbed against me. I was honestly tempted to stay in bed, but I knew I would regret it if I missed out on what was to come. I dragged myself up and past her, much to her disapproval, and I looked out the door. I saw marines running around and as I watched they kept shouting at each other. “...She should have 100 million Beli hidden here! It’d be impossible not to find it!” Nami and the others were shocked while I kept thinking about the marine captains face. He looks more like a rat than a mouse. Why would they call him a mouse? He even behaves more like a rat. What would he look like if he ate the Rat-Rat fruit? Hehe. Unfortunately, I was too focused on the idea that I didn't even notice that the captain had ordered his men to fire their guns til it was too late. They opened fire and managed to hit Nojiko while I could only watch. I immediately started to help them with nojiko, much to their surprise. “She needs bandages and a suture kit.” They immediately started to run off to get it while Luffy interrupted, leading Nami to scream at him and run off. I waited a few moments before they got back and I bandaged up Nojiko. Genzo started to rally the villagers into charging into arlong park to fight/kill them but I was already leaving. I pulled Medusa along as I left, though she simply grumbled about not being able to get enough warmth. I simply laughed and gave her some incentive. “If you use this time as training, and you do well, I will let you sleep on my chest the whole day tomorrow. Ok?” she immediately brightened up and she gripped her crossbow a bit harder than before. I could only smirk wryly. If I knew that all she needed was an incentive, I would have offered it earlier. I could only let it go as we soon arrived at Arlong Park, where Nami had run out of. She must be trying to stop them right about now. I then sat down in front of the doorway, next to Johnny and Yosaku who didn't even regard me. I waved towards Medusa who was still standing and I had her come over and sit on my lap. About twenty minutes later and I saw a large group of people moving towards arlong park, carrying different weapons or tools that could be used as weapons. I simply went back to basking in the sunlight with Medusa as they spoke to Johnny and Yosaku. Eventually, I looked up to see Luffy come up to the door, and with three punches knocked it down, walked inside and asked, “Which one of you is Arlong!!?”

I couldn't help but feel excited when I see that scene. I had seen it maybe a hundred times before but it was always through a screen. To see it live in front of you is a completely different matter. It's like seeing a comedian on stage vs on TV. As in the anime though, Arlong looked pissed off about this. I simply smiled as I thought of how his ass would be beaten black and blue by Luffy. They started to engage in their fight while the others came in. though I simply stayed where I was with Medusa. Simply teasing her a little and keeping her nice and warm. By the time that she was constantly squirming, I decided to have her start training. I looked at her and asked, “Do you see the rock that Luffy's feet are in? Go ahead and shoot it. Try your best to break up the rock.” she looked upset that I wouldn't keep playing with her, but she knew that I wouldn't play later if she didn't do it now. She got up and grabbed her crossbow, although begrudgingly, and she took aim at the rock. She waited for Arlong to pick it up before she put three shots into it, essentially breaking the rock just enough for Luffy to be able to break out with brute strength. And of course, Luffy took this opportunity. He managed to break out of the rock and went back to fighting. Though Medusa didn't give a fuck. She immediately went back to snuggling with me, leaving me helpless from it as I had already promised sometime to her, so I could only accept it. I kept watching as luffy fought Arlong while I combed my fingers through medusas hair. I noticed that sanji had his eyes with hearts in them as he looked at Medusa, though I couldn't do anything about that other than hold her a bit tighter, and Zoro kept eyeing me and Gungnir frequently with a battle-hungry glint in his eyes. I just smiled and asked, “Last time I saw you, there was only you, Luffy, and Nami. Do you mind introducing these others to me as well?” He just nodded his head and answered while putting his eyes back onto the fight, “ love-struck here is Sanji, our shitty cook. The long nose is Ussop, our sniper.” As he spoke he flicked his finger to the two of them. Though he immediately retaliated and looked at Medusa as he spoke, “Shut up moss head. Don't listen to him, my lady. I'm sure I could show you that I am an excellent cook, maybe a dinner at night?”, though all he got for it was a cold look from her as she replied, “Beat my captain in battle and I may just consider it.” I could only look at her with raised eyebrows as she smirked at me. Is this payback for having her shoot out the rock? Though Sanji looked as like he was on fire. Actually, scratch that, he was on fire. I suppose that a little proving of strength is necessary. I simply stood up, grabbed Gungir and I slashed the air out towards the sea. Of course, it wasn't an ordinary slash. I put a good deal of power behind it, causing the slash to leave behind an indent in the ocean, making it look like butter that someone shoved a knife into. I turned around and went back to simply hugging medusa while sanji curled into a ball and sulked. Meanwhile, Zoro looked a little shocked and Ussop put new meaning into the phrase, “Shaking in my boots”. I was going to say something else but I noticed some shaking and pointed at the mansion. Luffy's foot was high in the air and then came down with a loud crash. A pain filled scream and a series of crashes followed his attack. Then the whole of Arlong Park came crashing down.

The people run away in fright of getting crushed. And then silence, the dust settled and they started to wonder who had won. The winner showed himself on the top of the destroyed mansion and it was not someone fishy.

Luffy stood unbeaten and with blood all over him, but he stood without shaking. “NAMI! You are my crew mate GOT IT?!”, he shouted down from his position.

I glanced at Nami, she was crying and nodded. Medusa glanced at me and saw my wide smile. She asked, “why so happy?” I simply looked at her and answered, “This means party and a party must have a barbecue”. Though she looked a little shocked at my words, she simply smiled and walked away to do who knows what. Meanwhile, I went to talk to Luffy again. Though before I could get there I heard the rat start speaking again. I honestly didn't want to deal with him so I waited for Zoro to beat him up. A minute later, the rat and all of his crew members were beaten up by the others. I simply watched them and laughed before walking over to them after nami had knocked them into the sea. I then watched as he called out our names, screaming about how we would get our just desserts. I then went to try to talk to Luffy again. He had just gotten out of talking to the rest of the crew.

“Hi Oceanus, you're cool, wanna join my crew?”, asked the rubber boy.

“Nah, we want to have our own crew. I'm the captain by the way. We're gonna be the Gorgon Pirates”, I rejected him without a second thought. After all, this life is to have fun in isn't it?

“Oh, okay. That makes us rivals then”, said Luffy now, not bothering with the refusal. I simply chuckled at his words but I said nothing in the end. Now then. Onto the feast. I had long since realized that the rest of the village was out telling the whole island that Arlong Park was gone but I just wanted some food. I decided to wait til night came and everyone was partying to start having fun.

*8 Hours later*

Around the fire sat, Nojiko, Zoro, and Sanji. they were joking around here or there but for the most part, they were silent. Especially Nojiko, who seemed to be in disbelief that their terror was over. I walked over to grab some of the meat when I noticed that a certain snake wasn't here. Where in gods name is Medusa? I went ahead and jumped on top of a few roofs when I noticed a rather large pile of white down at arlong park. I was about to go check it out when I had a better idea. I hopped down and walked over and said, “Hey, wanna see something cool? Follow me real quick.” She looked confused as to why but she ended up following me anyway. I led her all the way back to Arlong Park. We both noticed the pile of what appeared to be…. Shark teeth? I then heard a grunt of pain come from under the rubble, so I moved around the pile and came across a rather odd sight. Medusa was kneeled down on the ground next to arlong with a frown on her face. “Just what the hell did you do to him?” She jumped a little but simply answered, “Arlong was helping me, but I think I broke him.” I looked back at the pile before asking, “Did you harvest Arlong’s teeth? What for?” I had a small smile on my face.

Nojiko stared incredulously down at the big pile. Not yet being able to think that such a thing was possible. “Yes As for why, I saw his teeth in the fight, they are both strong and sharp. So I thought that they would be better than the iron arrowheads that I normally use, but he hasn't regrown any in the last five minutes.”, she said sadly. The pile would give her at least a few thousand teeth. Was she doing this since we won? “He's still alive?”, asked Nojiko in fear. She was pale and shaking. “Of course he is, he was once a Grand Line veteran with some skill. But it seems as if Medusa gave him the finishing blow”, I answered. Nojiko shook her head to get clearer thoughts and then climbed down. I followed and saw how she stood over the bloody and mostly dead body of Arlong. “He's still alive, wanna kill him yourself?”, I asked and gave her a knife. She took it without a word and kneeled down next to him. “This is for Bellemere”, she said hatefully and plunged the knife down into his heart. Arlong died with a weak gurgle and with him the Fish Men Pirates. She pulled the knife back out and began to cry. Tears of relief that it's truly over. Sorrow for the loss of her mother and happiness for having survived this horror of hers. “So what are you gonna do now?”, I asked once she has calmed down somewhat. “What do you mean?”, she asked while looking up at me.

“Your sister is going with the Straw Hats, leaving you behind. What do you want to do?”, I asked again. “I.. don't know, I think I will just take care of the oranges”, she said with a slight frown and a stare in the distance. “Do you really want that? Would you not like to travel the seas? You can come with us, we too need a navigator”, I offered, while holding my hand out to her.

“I'm not sure”, she said weakly, “I'm not as good as my sister. I only know things from her and never truly learned it”, she added. “Not a problem, you can learn and we have found a book that can teach you. Think about it, all the adventures, the islands, and animals you will see, the different people, the vast and open ocean”. I spoke with a wide grin, this life will be one big adventure.

“Would you really take me with you? You are way stronger than me”, she said in another weak attempt to not go. Putting sticks in her own way.

“We can teach you, you look like you would be alright with a sword.” offered Medusa.

“Let me think about it for a night”, relented Nojiko finally. I nodded and helped her up.

“Not a problem, you can learn from nami and as we go along. If you're anything like nami when it comes to perseverance, then I know for certain that you will do great.” I said with a small smile. She looked conflicted before saying, “Give me a day to think about it.” I simply nodded and walked back to the party