Chương 46: Nobles and Celestial Dragons
A while after
The crew and Vivi were back on the ship, saying goodbye to the giants. Brogy and Dorry waved at them as the ship sailed away.
Suddenly, a giant goldfish popped up from the sea.
It opened his mouth wide to eat the ship as Goldfishes normally do.
Dorry and Brogy grinned at each other before attacking at the same time, blowing the Merry forward with a burst of wind as well as blasting a massive hole through the Goldfish, sending the Merry sailing through the sky as they laughed and waved.
Luffy laughed as the ship flew through the air, landing on the sea. Thirteen was sitting down, reading, Zoro was sleeping and sliding around on the deck, Sanji was cooking in the kitchen, while the rest were holding onto the ship for dear life, screaming their lungs out. Nami held onto Thirteen's chain as she waved in the air like a flag, Usopp held onto the Mast, and Vivi was holding onto the railing as Caroo watched from inside the cabin.
When the ship hit the water, Usopp shot through the air and faceplanted into the wall of the cabin before sliding down it. Thirteen looked at him before going back to reading his book.
Everything was back on schedule as the Merry sailed away with its classic sheep smile.
3 days later
Thirteen was sweating heavily but otherwise looked fine as he trained with Zoro and Sanji. When they finished, Thirteen was panting quietly, he squinted his eyes and started seeing spots but he closed his eyes and shook his head before stumbling away.
Zoro looked at him and Sanji muttered "We didn't go THAT hard did we?" Zoro shrugged and said "Never saw him sweat so much." Sanji rubbed his chin and added "Never seen him sweat at all actually… He was sweating just sitting down a few hours ago."
Zoro narrowed his eyes at that as the duo watched Thirteen walk to the stairs.
Thirteen walked to the stairs and his vision blurred slightly, he slapped his forehead and heard "Idiot. That's not gonna help. You're so fucking stupid." Thirteen muttered "Shut up." as he took another step and fell down the stairs, landing flat on his face at the bottom.
His vision started getting really blurry and he heard a maniacal laughing in his head. He pressed against the floor and struggled to get to his feet, Zoro and Sanji ran over saying, "Big cat! You alright?"
Thirteen got to his feet and nodded silently, taking slow steps to his backpack. Zoro and Sanji looked at each other as Thirteen's vision turned black and he fell to the ground.
Before he hit the ground, Vivi caught him, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Luffy turned his head and the rest looked at her as she said seriously "He has a fever, he's really hot!" Zoro and Sanji looked at each other, Zoro sighed and said to Vivi "Bring him to his room." as he walked over, helping Vivi.
Sanji did the same, as did Luffy, while Usopp went to get the medical kit, and Nami grabbed Thirteen's bag, looking worried.
Very slowly, Thirteen was brought to his bed and thrown on it. The bed snapped and Sanji commented "I'm not paying for that." Nami gave him a look and put down Thirteen's bag, looking over him while Vivi took the medical kit from Usopp.
Zoro rubbed his chin and added "Does he have to constantly hold up the weight while he's sleeping? How does he do that?" Sanji replied "He also doesn't make any noises when he moves. Do you think he can fly if he takes them off?" Luffy added "I wish I could fly."
Nami shouted "Can you shut up?!"
The three shut their mouths and Usopp looked at the chains closely, muttering "What are these made of?" He tapped it with a hammer and it made a loud but low dinging sound.
Vivi put a wet towel on Thirteen's forehead and looked at him as Nami chased the rest out. Nami looked at Vivi before closing the door and walking over to her.
Outside the room, the guys were circled up.
Luffy said seriously, "We need a doctor." Zoro pointed his thumb at Usopp and replied "We should've brought that girl along." Usopp waved his hands and blushed "What do you mean?! Kaya is too fragile for the sea!" Sanji's eyebrow twitched and he said "Girl? Kaya? Is she cute?" while Zoro looked at Usopp replying, "And you're not?"
Usopp was tongue tied and Sanji asked him "Is this Kaya cute?" Usopp turned red and shouted "SHUT UP!" Sanji blinked before laughing and wrapped his arm around Usopp's shoulder, saying "Oh! You like this girl? I got a few tips for you…"
Zoro ignored them and said to Luffy "We need a doctor, fast." Luffy nodded and said "We'll find one." Zoro looked at Thirteen's door and added "Hopefully soon." Luffy looked at the door and clenched his fists before walking away, Zoro watched him go before following him out, saying "Let's go, Dartbrow."
Sanji turned his head and dragged Usopp along, explaining his trade secrets to him. Usopp's eyes were swirls and his face was completely red as his knees quivered at the pure knowledge he was receiving.
Inside the room, Nami asked "Do you have any medical knowledge?" Vivi bit her lip and said quietly "No…" Nami rolled her eyes and sat on the bed, adding "So why are you here, taking care of him?"
Vivi stayed silent and Nami curled her hair with her fingers, continuing "If it's out of guilt, you do-" but she was cut off as Vivi shouted "It's not guilt!" Nami paused and looked at her as she continued "I- I just feel bad. You can't imagine the horror of that place… It's not something that should exist."
She clenched her hand and squeezed out water from a towel, Nami tilted her head and asked "How would you know? I thought you 'Weren't a noble'." Vivi turned her head to Nami, who was looking at her with wide open eyes, her pupils nearly resembled a cat as they trained onto her own.
Vivi turned away and replied "I AM a Noble, but I'm not a Celestial Dragon." Nami hummed "What's the difference?" Vivi explained "Celestial Dragons live in Mariejois on top of the Redline. They believe that they are better than the rest of humanity, that they're a higher species of human than the rest of us. My family never moved to Mariejois and decided to live in Alabasta, ruling as a royal family."
She changed the towel on Thirteen's forehead as she continued "Because of that, whenever we go up to Mariejois, the other nobles hate us. One time I was almost killed by another Noble because of a slave. I've seen him before, actually."
Nami stayed silent and listened as Vivi added "We go to Mariejois once a year for the Levely. Since I can remember, he's always been there. Normally, children of the Nobles are allowed to come and they bring their slaves to fight against each other and entertain the Dragons. That's where I met Marie."
Nami was confused and asked "Marie?" Vivi nodded and explained "Marie was his owner. She's… not a good person." Nami closed her eyes and Vivi continued "She's…" she cleared her throat and added "She's fucked up." Before covering her mouth, Nami opened her eyes and looked at Vivi with a teasing look.
Vivi blushed in embarrassment before coughing and continuing "Ahem* She would do all kinds of things to her slaves. A very promiscuous girl, unfortunately since her father died, she's the head of her family now. I had to deal with her a year or so ago." Nami lost her look and looked at Thirteen sadly, tracing her fingers over his scars.
Vivi looked at Nami and asked "Why are YOU in here?" Nami smiled lightly and replied almost immediately "He's like a Big Brother to me. Though he doesn't talk much, and he's a dense brickhead… I don't know what I would do without him."
Vivi was silent and Nami added "He saved me and my sister's lives before, more than once technically. Maybe he thinks it was nothing but it mattered to me." Vivi smiled slightly and looked at Thirteen's scars and brand before sighing sadly and changing the wet towel on his forehead in silence.
The Merry seemed to sail just a bit faster as the head seemed to be sweating with a worried look in her eyes. It was more of a feeling than anything, but it was definitely there. She glided across the sea in a hurry as time started passing.
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