章節 35: Anticlimactic

Cabernet launched herself towards the giant candle, laughing maniacally like a villain.

At this point Luffy figured out he could use Mr. 3's candle lock technique against him, breaking through his defenses.

However, he got caught off guard when Miss Golden Week laid a trap for him with her strange hypnotic paints, causing him to lose interest in saving his friends.

"Color Trap: Betrayal Black." She stated lazily.

Cabernet landed on the candle platform from above next to the long nosed man, Usopp.

Usopp screamed in terror. "It's a demon, save meeeeee!"

Cabernet grabbed him by his shoulder straps and lifted him out of the wax she melted with her feet.

"What's a demon? Is it cool?" She asked with a sparkle in her eyes. Though it would seem more like sarcasm with a murderous glint in her eyes to an observer that wasn't used to her.

Usopp fainted from fear while Cabernet tilted her head in confusion. She put him down gently and moved onto the green haired swordsman, Zoro.

"Why do you have three swords? Do you hold one with your mouth?" She asked him, pulling him out of the melting wax by his shoulders.

Cherry overhead this as she reached Vivi's side and muttered. "There's no way that's true. They probably have unique properties and he switches between them based on the circumstances."

"Yeah. I use the three sword style." Zoro said as he drew the swords, placing the white sword in his teeth.

"What have I gotten myself into..." Cherry groaned.

Mr. 3 noticed Cabernet's interference after Usopp screamed, but when he was about to intervene, he paused. He was sure this woman was familiar somehow, but he couldn't remember from where. If she had a bounty he would have remembered her from her unique appearance easily.

He pushed that thought aside for now and called out to Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine to assist him, knowing that Cabernet's fire ability was a very bad match up for him.

Not receiving a response, he turned to see Cherry standing over the unconscious forms of Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine. She was scratching her head with some embarrassment.

"I thought they'd be a little tougher than this with their ranking in Baroque Works..." Cherry sighed.

At this point, Mr. 3 knew his plan was in shambles. So he did what any real man would do when the going gets tough. Run away!

"Miss Golden Week, we're leaving!" He said, but noticed belatedly that she was already gone.

Clicking his tongue, he ran off into the jungle as well.

Zoro attempted to chase after him. Luffy, who was still standing on the "Betrayal Black" mark, stretched his arms out to grab Zoro, allowing Mr. 3 to disappear into the trees.

"What the hell are you doing, Luffy! He's getting away, let me go!" Zoro shouted.

"No." Luffy said bluntly.

While the two bickered with each other like idiots, Cabernet finished melting the wax trapping the red head woman and the giants, then destroyed the spinning candle.

"Go catch the paint girl and the candle man, Cabernet." Cherry knew that she was itching to fight and wouldn't stop her.

"Yippee!" The flames on Cabernet's back vanished and she dashed into the jungle at breakneck speed.

It was only a few minutes later that she returned, dragging Mr. 3 and Miss Golden Week behind her, their heads covered in painful looking lumps.

Dorry and Brogy woke up from their wounds, which fortunately weren't too deep due to their weakened state when they slashed each other. Nami messed up the Color Trap Luffy was standing on, allowing him to come to his senses.

At this point, the last remaining member of Luffy's crew emerged from the jungle. "Nami-swan! Vivi-chwan!"

He stopped when he saw Cherry and Cabernet and seemed to be inflicted with some kind of inner turmoil.

"Ladies, my name is Sanji. May I ask for your names?" He inquired. Cherry introduce them to him.

"I see! Such beautiful names for such beautiful ladies! Please step on me- OOF!" He was interrupted when Nami bashed the top of his head with her fist. "Stop it!"

Usopp recovered from his fear induced fainting spell, took one look at Cabernet, and started screaming for help again.

While Cabernet and Luffy were laughing at the antics of the others, Cherry wondered if they were really pirates at all. She felt they were more like a traveling performance group.

'Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stick around these guys a little longer... wait.' Cherry caught herself and immediately turned her attention inwards to her soul.

There she found a massive thread of fate had wrapped around her. Compared to the previous thread, this was like a rope one would attach to a ship's anchor.

"Hey, do you wanna come with us?" Luffy asked, smiling widely at Cherry and Cabernet.

Cherry fell to her hands and knees, hanging her head in despair.

"Eh? Is something wrong? Eh?" Luffy asked, confused.

Mr. 3 started to slink away during the commotion, he had only pretended to be unconscious.

Cherry raised her face towards him. "Where are you going?"

She was furious. She couldn't take out her frustration on Luffy as it wasn't really his fault, so she decided to relieve her stress on this idiot. She stood up, her sword appeared in her hand, and she slowly walked towards Mr. 3.

Her bloodlust was almost palpable in the air. Mr. 3 froze in horror, like he was a little rabbit cornered by a tiger.

"Wait wait wait wait wait! Don't kill me, I surrender! I'll tell you anything you want, I'm really good with information you see!" He begged.

Luffy stepped into her path. "You don't have to kill him, he's given up." He said.

Cherry was about to chastise his naivete, but she saw something else in his eyes. It wasn't that he believed in some nonsensical philosophy about the good in people. No, he knew the risks and he chose not to kill anyways.

Cherry rolled her eyes, but couldn't stop a grin from forming. "Fine."

She turned a cold gaze onto Mr. 3. "But if he acts up again, I'll kill him before he has the chance to give up."

Shishishi, okay." Luffy smiled and Mr. 3 trembled.

"Alright, then. Tell me everything I want to know. You probably won't say anything about Baroque Works since you're a coward who fears death, so I'll ask you different things." Cherry left no room to refuse.

"You've been sneaking peeks at Cabernet for a while now. Do you know something? Her race seems like it's rare, perhaps you know that?" Cherry interrogated.

When Cherry said the word 'race', something clicked into place in Mr. 3's mind.

"Seems you thought of something, spit it out." Cherry commanded. The others listened with some interest as well.

"Ah, well, I recall there being a 100,000,000 Beri reward for information regarding a race known as Lunarians..." He described what he remembered about the information bounty from the world government, including the racial characteristics of Lunarians.

Hearing this, Luffy and Usopp (who had gotten over his fear once everything was explained to him) started to gush over Cabernet and asking her to demonstrate her flying and flames, which she happily obliged.

Cherry was in a much more somber mood. Although Cabernet was only a Lunarian by way of a devil fruit, she didn't think the world government would care about the difference. Unless Cherry kept Cabernet stored within her body all the time, she would be no different than a wanted criminal.

She just didn't have the heart to keep such a sweet girl cooped up like that.

Sanji spoke up at this point. "Oh, right! I forgot to tell you..." He relayed how he had come across Mr. 3's makeshift base and spoken to Mr. 0 on the den den mushi, tricking him into believing they were dead.

Usopp lamented that even though they threw off Baroque Works' pursuers, they were still stuck on Little Garden for a whole year. Then, Sanji revealed the eternal log pose to Alabasta he found, earning cheers from the others.

Vivi turned to Cherry. "Um, you didn't answer Luffy before, do you want to come with us? I know I asked you for help before, but the situation in my country is much more dire than I thought."

Cherry looked into Vivi's puppy dog eyes. "Ugh, fine." She relented.

""""Hooray!"""" They shouted, including Cabernet.

'Damn it. The thread of fate has become too thick, I can't just sever it now. Even if I could, there would be terrible consequences for doing so. I'll have to try and resolve this fate naturally...' Cherry sighed.

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章節 36: Straight Ahead

The Straw Hats decided to set out as soon as possible and the giants came to see them off.

Cabernet was keen on making friends with the Going Merry, much to the confusion of the others.

"Oh, right. I guess I should tell you. Cabernet is a ship who ate a human human devil fruit, Lunarian model I suppose." Cherry enlightened them.

"""""EHHH?!"""""

"Wait, how can a ship EAT a devil fruit?" Usopp asked.

"With her mouth?" Cherry shrugged.

"By the way, both your name and face seem familiar. You're not related to a man named Yasopp by any chance?" Cherry inquired.

Usopp was surprised and exclaimed that Yasopp is in fact his father. Cherry told him that she received some shooting tips from him many years ago, causing Usopp to grind his teeth in jealousy. Luffy was also excited that she had also met Shanks and his crew.

They began to set sail and when they reached the mouth of the river they anchored in, Brogy and Dorry stood at either side of the river facing the ocean.

"Whatever happens..." Said Brogy.

"Sail straight ahead!" Dorry finished.

Cherry had an idea of what they meant to do. She could sense the massive sea king just off the shore lying in wait for them.

After sailing straight ahead and being swallowed by the Island Eater as a result, the giants used the same attack they used after Cherry fixed their weapons to carve a hole straight through the sea king.

Things went smoothly for a couple days, but it wasn't long before something happened. Nami collapsed with a high fever.

Cherry was no doctor, but she did some standard medical check up procedures while looking over Nami's body with Life Sense. She could see a clear and fast deterioration occurring within her body. It was no common cold, that much was certain.

Nami tried to insist she was fine and that they shouldn't waste time fussing over her, but Cherry interrupted her.

"I'd say you've got a week to live, at most. By the time we reach Alabasta, it'll be far too late to save you." Her words shocked the crew.

Vivi resolved herself and gave a nice little speech about saving Nami being the fastest way to reach Alabasta.

They decided to follow Cherry's log pose to the island after Little Garden, which wouldn't be far away. There was a brief scuffle with some idiots called the Wapol pirates, but Cabernet sent their captain flying after he took a bite out of her new friend, the Going Merry.

Finally they spotted a winter island with large flat topped mountains. Upon entering an inlet, they were warmly received by a few dozen rifles aimed at them.

It was a tricky situation since they seem to be civilians rather than soldiers. Fortunately most of them are trained on Cabernet, as she is the most physically intimidating person here. She was perfectly capable of taking a few volleys of ordinary bullets with her durability.

While the crew pled their case, the one whom Cherry assumed to be the leader locked eyes with her and she smirked at him.

Dalton's animal instincts sent a shiver down his spine, then he heard a shot fired. He was relieved to find it was only a warning shot, but he saw the straw hat wearing man get angry. Another shot rang out, it hit the familiar blue haired woman who tried to calm down the straw hat wearing man.

He glanced back at the woman. The amusement had vanished from her face and her eyes pierced into his own as if to say "Do something about this before I do." His instincts were screaming at him, begging him take action, anything except sitting still. Fortunately, things didn't escalate further in his momentary panic.

The blue haired woman stopped the man again and said something to him. He apologized, then humbly bowed and asked for help. This calmed the other militia men considerably, even making them feel a bit guilty.

Dalton took the chance to tell them to stand down and that he would escort the pirates.

...

Meanwhile, somewhere in the surrounding seas of Drum Island.

"Brrrr! That was a close one! I would have drowned for sure if you hadn't pulled me out of the water, Jaxin! Mahahahaha!" Wapol praised.

Jaxin stood 4 meters tall, had ghostly pale skin and hair, a long ponytail cut off midway down his back diagonally, and was wearing a buttoned up trench coat with a long slash on the back that lined up with his hair. Bandages were clearly visible beneath the slash in the trench coat.

"No reason to be humble, your majesty. I am filled with gratitude for your magnanimity in allowing your excellent doctors to treat my wound. A terrible scoundrel with no honor slashed me across the back when I spared his life after a swordsmanship duel." Jaxin spoke in a snake-like whisper.

"Mahaha! This is a man who knows how to act before his betters! Jaxin, you're my new chief of the royal guard! That idiot Dalton can take a hike when we get back!" Wapol laughed as he stuffed a cannon into his mouth.

"I see land! It's the Drum Kingdom, we're back!" A soldier shouted.

Jaxin's mind drifted back to the moment he received his wound. His ship was cleaved perfectly in half and he was powerless to stop it. He tried to flee on a rowboat as his crew perished in the merciless waters of the Grand Line.

However that man, whose eyes would haunt his dreams forever, followed behind him. He drew his sword, a fine grade Meito, intent to at least die like a proper swordsman. However, the man's words to him destroyed that shred of dignity he had. "So now you want to die like a man?"

He turned his back on him and immediately felt a blade sink into his flesh. "Coward."

He fell into the water and was left for dead. It was a miracle that he even managed to get back into his rowboat.

2 days later he pulled Wapol out of the ocean and soon after saw his crew searching for him.

'I won't forget that day you wronged me! I swear I'll have my revenge, HAWKEYE!!!' He seethed with rage in his mind.

...

The group, except for Zoro and Karoo, arrived in the town of Big Horn.

Dalton explained a bit of the circumstances of their country and that there was only one doctor on the entire island, a witch named Kureha.

"If your country was nearly destroyed by pirates, why were you so reckless back there? You're already painfully aware that some pirates are too much to handle. That fiasco back there could have pissed off pirates who wouldn't have otherwise done much harm." Cherry analyzed.

"Um, I suppose that's a good point." Dalton acquiesced.

"Also, if Princess Vivi wasn't such a goody two shoes, your actions could very well have been a declaration of war against Alabasta." Cherry casually dropped a bomb shell.

"Huh?!" Dalton looked at Vivi and his face showed he just realized something.

"MY APOLOGIES, PRINCESS VIVI!" He bowed so low, his head plunged into the snow.

Vivi desperately tried to assure him it was fine, while she gave Cherry a look that asked "Why did you tell him that?!"

Cherry giggled mischievously.

Eventually, Vivi got Dalton to relax and he explained that Doctor Kureha only comes down the mount at her leisure, and that they'd have to wait. The group informed him of Nami's prognosis, but he could only apologize that there was no way to contact Doctor Kureha.

Luffy declared that he would bring Nami up the mountain himself. The others protested, but Nami said she would entrust herself to Luffy.

"Guys? Why don't you just go with Cabernet?" Cherry asked.

They looked at her perplexed.

"Cabernet is a ship. With wings." Cherry explained.

""""AH!"""" They understood.

Luffy, Sanji, and Cabernet took Nami out of the town where Cabernet transformed and flew them towards the mountain with the castle. The rest stayed in Big Horn with Dalton.

Meanwhile, Wapol and his soldiers easily defeated the militia and disembarked. They saw the Going Merry, so they eagerly set out towards Big Horn to start taking back their kingdom and to get revenge against the Straw Hats. Jaxin followed closely behind, hand caressing his sword and looking forward to being the strong one again.

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