The first thing that Nojiko, Nami, and their crew were greeted with, upon exiting the tunnel, was Cavendish munching on roses with Farul.
"Mm, how satiating! Its fragrance, texture, and appearance—there exists no substance more perfect than a rose!" Cavendish laughed with Farul, not aware of the crowd that gathered behind him.
Nami closed in to Vivi, and whispered, "Who is he? Is he your rival to the throne or something?"
Vivi shook her head in confusion, "I got no idea. Never seen him in my whole life."
"He is mister Cavendish, a member of the Grimheart pirates. Please try not to rouse his anger." One guard stepped up nervously and explained in a low voice.
At the same time, Cavendish perked up, having noticed the Twin Cats pirates and the guards that stood on one side. Smirking to himself, he immediately posed, with one of his hands holding onto a rose dramatically.
"Well well, look who it is." Cavendish said smoothly. Although Nojiko and Nami seemed a bit creeped out, the other members of their crew seemed to be enchanted by his appearance. "How may I help the beauties such as yourselves?"
Spadina stepped up with a wide grin on her face, and held her thumb and index finger together to form a circle, "Do you have any coin on you that I can borrow? You must have some cool ones if you are a part of the Grimheart pirates, right?! Just wondering!"
"F***." Cavendish's expression died down instantly after hearing Spadina, "That's Carina 2.0. I'm out of here."
After hearing Carina's nags for years, he was so done with it. It was mainly due to the differences in their viewpoints; Cavendish used to be the most loved prince in his kingdom, while Carina was poor for most of her life.
Cavendish turned around and walked away with Farul, not bothering with the dumbfounded expressions on everyone else.
"...What is wrong with him?" Nojiko couldn't help but mutter with confusion on her face.
"Well, that's new." Spadina scratched her head sheepishly and turned back to face her crewmates, "I've always been called as captain Nami's half-replica, but never this 'Carina 2.0.'"
Nami frowned, "Carina? She must be that Decarine girl."
*Tap* *Tap* Subsequently, a rapid succession of footsteps was heard from the side. Turning their heads, the Twin Cats pirates and Vivi found Chaka and Pell hurriedly approaching them.
"Chaka! Pell!" Vivi cried out happily.
Chaka and Pell stopped in front of Vivi and knelt down on one knee.
"Princess Vivi! Welcome home!" Pell said with a smile of his own.
"We apologize for the rudeness, princess." Chaka lowered his head stoically, "Our majesty is elsewhere as of the current moment, occupied with the matter regarding Rowan, the captain of the Grimheart pirates."
"Where are they?" Nami asked with anticipation.
Hearing Nami's question, Pell opened his mouth, about to give his answer to her. However, before he could speak up,
"Outside." Another voice was heard from the side, where Cavendish and Farul originally retreated to. It was Carina, who walked towards the group and stopped in front of them, with her arms crossed.
"Hm?" Nami raised her eyebrow as the Twin Cats pirates noticed Carina's appearance.
Subsequently, both Carina and Nami's eyes narrowed at one another, as they instinctively perceived each other as rivals.
"You must be Nami," Carina said stoically and shifted her gaze to Nojiko, "and Nojiko."
Nami chuckled with cold eyes, "Oh, you know me? Rowan must have talked a lot about us. And you must be that-"
"Not really," Carina intercepted Nami with a faked laziness on her face, with half-lidded eyes, "I've learnt about you guys just a few days ago." Of course, this statement wasn't the truth.
"-Decarine." Nami completed her words with a tick mark on her forehead, with her fists clenched from irritation, "I believe that we met before."
An ominous aura emanated from the two, causing the others in proximity to be frightened. They slowly took a step back, while Nojiko was seen to be standing on her spot with a sweatdrop.
"I think you meant Carina." Carina growled in response.
"Oh? Then how come your bounty poster says otherwise?" Nami retorted immediately.
The two walked toward each other while glaring daggers, having gone furious from each others' insults.
Standing right in front of Nami, at less than a meter's distance away, Carina snarled in a low tone, "Yes, I do remember you. That orange-haired noob."
"What can I say?" Nami remarked similarly, "I cannot dare to compare myself to a street thug, can I?"
Nojiko's jaw dropped wide upon hearing this, "In my whole life, I've never seen Nami like this."
On Nojiko's back, Vivi was seen to be shivering while peeking through Nojiko's back with fearful eyes.
*Creak* Suddenly, a large door, located in the front of the hall, opened, instantly earning everyone's attention.
"Rowan?" Nami muttered with excitement within her, completely ignoring Carina—only to see that it was Dan. "...Who?"
Dan comically fell backward, with tears flowing out of his face dejectedly, "Come on woman, I'm literally the only one wearing a mask in our crew..."
"He's the Black Mask. Don't you remember?" Nojiko answered Nami from the back, "Although I think he looks a lot more buff than what's shown in his poster."
"Ah, that's right." Nami acknowledged Nojiko's words without any interest.
"So... Carina, who are they?" Standing back up, Dan asked, gazing at the Twin Cats pirates with curiosity.
Carina glared at Nami, before snorting as she turned her head to Dan, "Rowan's long-forgotten friends."
"Long-forgotten? Please," Nami clenched her teeth, "Rowan and I go way far back than you do. We've known each other for over ten years."
*Tap* *Tap* Another series of footsteps were heard from behind of Carina. Out of the shadow, Cavendish, whose face was full of unwillingness, was seen to be pulled along by Alfred. Farul was missing.
"Master Cavendish, a true aristocrat must be calm and engaging, no matter what consequence one may be within." Alfred stated calmly before turning to the group, "Greetings, ladies, gentlemen, and more ladies. My name is Alfred, a proud member of the Grimheart pirates. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I fear no one." Cavendish spoke in a low voice, before staring at Spadina with shaky eyes, "But that woman... she terrifies me."
"Huh, me?" Spadina pointed a finger at herself and tilted her head playfully.
Ignoring their antics, Carina asked Dan, "Where is Carmen?"
"Followed Igaram to the kitchen. You know, spices, recipes, and those sorts." Dan shrugged.
As most of the Grimheart pirates and the whole Twin Cats pirates crowded up in one area, the situation became chaotic, with everyone chattering here and there.
The royal guards, Chaka and Pell, and Vivi stared at the scene dully, not knowing how they should react.
*Creak* The door behind Dan suddenly opened, causing the noises to cease, with everyone synchronously turning their heads altogether.
"What's going on here? Geez, I can hear the noises from miles away." Rowan, with a black-coloured blindfold on his eyes, said in confusion as he made an entrance, along with Robin and Cobra behind him.
"Rowan!!!" / "Father!!!" Nami and Vivi cried out joyously before rushing to Rowan and Cobra simultaneously, hugging them tightly.
"Vivi... I'm glad to see that you are safe." Cobra said affectionately, as he gently caressed Vivi's head.
"H-huh, hey Nami." Rowan spoke with a surprise on his face, as he lowered his head at Nami, before muttering to himself, "Well, I guess that you certainly grew quite a bit."
"Someone is popular here." Robin stated with a slight smirk on her face.
With a chuckle, Rowan turned his head to face Nojiko, "And long time no see for you as well, Nojiko. I see that you got more little sisters to take care of."
Nojiko squinted her eyes at Rowan with a confusion, "Uh, long time no see Rowan, but why are you wearing a blindfold on your face? And how did you even know that I was here?"
"Magic." Rowan simply grinned.
On the corner, Cavendish was standing in a slouched posture, staring at Rowan dully, "What is the purpose of that blindfold? And why is Nico Robin standing next to him?"
"Oh, did I not inform you, master Cavendish?" Alfred raised his eyebrow, "Captain Rowan decided to accept mademoiselle Robin into our crew. As for the blindfold... I have no idea, unfortunately."
On the other side, Dan's jaw opened wide comically.
"Nooooo, how can you do this to me, captain?!!" Dan clenched onto his hair in frustration, "My mask is like, the only thing that makes me stand out! Why copy my trademark?!!"
Spadina, who was standing on Dan's left, stared at him with an interest.
"Haha, hahaha... it should be alright. His is blindfold, and mine exposes eyes. Yeap, mine is way cooler." Dan muttered powerlessly. He didn't bother to pay attention to Robin, whom he found out that she's been accepted into their crew ages ago.
Then, an awkward silence came. Dan felt Spadina's gaze piercing through him. Eventually, unable to handle it, Dan spoke up, "So... you guys are the Twin Cats pirates, who also came from the East Blue like us. Your captains and our captain are childhood friends."
"Yep!" Spadina nodded with her eyes still on Dan, creeping him out.
"Why are you keep on staring at me like that?" Dan asked with a frown.
Spadina smiled sheepishly before pointing a finger at her nostril. Watching Spadina's action, Dan's eyes widened in horror as he moved his hand onto his nose and immediately got rid of the dried nasal mucus that was hanging onto it.
"Yeah... anyways," Dan spoke up in an attempt to hide his embarrassment, "how has East Blue been since we left?"
"Disastrous." Spadina replied in a friendly tone, "There was a huge surge of pirates here and there, giving quite a trouble to the common folks and marines."
"Uh, for real?" Dan scratched his head, "I guess captain had much more influence there than I previously thought. I joined right before our crew entered the Grand Line, so yeah."
"Oh, you have no idea." Spadina flashed a grin before making a circle with her right hand, "Thanks to such a situation, our crew managed to reap lots of benefits. Would've stayed for longer, if we didn't hear that the marine hero, Garp, was planning to come himself to resolve this issue."
Then she leaned in to Dan, whispering to him with her hand next to her mouth, "And according to the information we managed to eavasdrop from the marines, he's accepted that job just to visit his hometown. You know, like a vacation. Pretty funny, isn't it? Purging all those pirates at once is considered as taking a break to him."
"Well, it's the marine hero we are talking about here." Dan replied, "If there is one thing I realized after reaching the Grand Line, it's that the pirates in the East Blue are weak. They were nothing compared to the ones here."
Meantime, Carina too found herself intrigued and worried of Rowan wearing the blindfold. However, she was occupied with glaring angrily at Nami, whose arms remained tightened around Rowan's torso.
"That cat burglar!!" Carina stomped her right foot in frustration. Following suit, she vanished from her spot and instantly appeared on Rowan's right, giving Rowan a heated gaze.
Upon noticing her agility, the Twin Cats pirates appeared to be very shocked.
"Wow. I wish I was that fast." Sofie mumbled sadly. The other crew members gave her sympathetic pats on her back.
Rowan sweatdropped as he felt Carina's stinging gaze on him.
Nami saw Carina as well. Slightly turning her head, Nami smirked in mockery, which further invoked Carina's wrath, to an extent where her hair began to rise up, defying gravity.
Lowering his gaze down to Nami once again, Rowan gently grabbed Nami's shoulders and pushed her away from him, much to the latter's disappointment.
"Hmph, this is the payback for leaving without saying anything." Nami said with a pout.
"Haha, yeah. Sorry about that part, I had to leave swiftly you know. Anyways, it's nice to see you again, and we definitely have lots to catch up." Rowan smiled to Nami before turning to Carina, who was still intensely staring at Rowan, to which he found it cute.
"And what problem does my navigator have?" Rowan chuckled in a humor.
Carina immediately latched onto Rowan and spoke sweetly, "Rowannn, I don't like her."
"Well, I can't change that, can I." Rowan grinned as he raised his hand up and patted Carina, causing the latter to turn to Nami with a mocking smile of her own.
"Grr, this thief..." Nami gritted her teeth, with her eyes blazing in a comical manner.
On their right, Cobra was seen to be talking to Vivi in a stern manner. "Vivi, There is something I must tell you. It is perhaps the most important secret that Nefertari family possesses, and I believe that you have grown mature enough to learn."
Vivi gazed at Cobra in confusion but nodded nonetheless, with a slight nervousness creeping up on her face.
Omake
‘Where am I?’ Rowan thought within himself as he looked to his left and right. There were two men sitting in front of him.
“You’re finally awake, Uchiha D. Bob.” One man with handsome visage spoke, “Do you remember me? It’s me, Kurosaki D. Naruto!”
“…What?” Rowan managed to mutter before bursting out a laugh,
“BOFAKFAKFAKFAK!!!” Rowan laughed hard, before his face became pale in realization.
Then another man spoke up, “And I’m Di D. Kong, the Fleet Admiral. I’m here to arrest you.”