章節 2: Reunion
"Huh? I was chosen to retrieve Luffy?"
In the city, Marguerite looked at her Kuja Pirate senior, Ran with widened as eyes. She was inside a restaurant eating when Ran approached her to pass down an order.
"That's right. You'll accompany us to Rusukaina tomorrow and then you'll be the one to go on the island to meet him. These are the Snake Princess' orders."
"But why me?"
"I don't know, maybe because you're friends."
"Then, what about Sweet Pea and Aphelandra? They're friends with Luffy too. Can they come as well?"
Marguerite gestured to the two girls sitting beside her. Ran shook her head.
"The Snake Princess specifically picked you."
Ran placed her hand on Marguerite's shoulder.
"I know Rusukaina is scary but you were chosen by our leader. Hold your head high and consider it an honor."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
Marguerite stood and saluted. Ran nodded.
"Then, we'll see you tomorrow."
She left the restaurant leaving Marguerite to finish her meal.
"Isn't that great, Marguerite?! The Snake Princess chose you to be the first to meet Luffy!"
Sweet Pea was all smiles and shook Marguerite back and forth.
"Good for you."
Aphelandra clapped softly with a smile on her face.
"T-Thanks."
Marguerite showed a strained smile.
(Is the Snake Princess really okay with me meeting Luffy first?)
She thought.
"Noooo!"
Meanwhile, Hancock was wailing inside her bed chambers. She buried her head in her pillow while punching the bed.
"Why did I give such an order?!"
She started punching the pillow.
"I shouldn't have allowed myself to get swept up in the mood! Now someone else will meet Luffy before me!"
She was on the verge of shedding tears.
"Why?!"
She started screaming into her pillow. Her sisters who were standing guard outside her chambers couldn't help but shake their heads.
The next day, the Kuja Pirate ship arrived at Rusukaina in the afternoon.
"Alright, Marguerite. Luffy should be somewhere on the island. According to the Snake Princess, he should be able to sense you if you're near the safe zone, so head there."
Ran said to her. Marguerite nodded with a determined expression.
"Good luck."
Marguerite once again nodded at Ran and leaped off the ship. She sprinted through the snow covering the island without looking back. She scanned her surroundings while moving through the jungle.
"Ah, there it is."
She spotted a tree resembling a radish. She hurried and quickly reached the tree.
"Marguerite?"
She stopped when she heard a familiar voice.
"Luffy!"
There she saw Luffy walking out of the jungle.
"I thought that was you. What are you doing here? Is it time to leave already?"
"No, we actually depart for Sabody tomorrow."
"Then why are you here?"
Luffy was visibly confused.
"Snake Princess wants to have a banquet to celebrate the end of your training on the island. She wants to do it before we depart."
"A banquet?!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled and his mouth started to water.
"Let's go! Let's go! I haven't had a decent meal in forever!"
Marguerite nodded.
"The ship is by the coast. Follow me."
"Meat~! Meat~! Meat~!"
Luffy followed behind her while singing.
"Mea—Hm? By the way, where's Hancock? I don't sense her."
He started looking around.
"Ah, she isn't here. She sent me to come get you."
"She isn't here, huh?"
Luffy started following behind Marguerite in silence.
(Luffy seems down all of a sudden.)
Marguerite thought but didn't say anything. They continued to walk until she spoke again.
"I'm surprised I don't see any monsters. I heard this place was overrun with them."
"Ah, I ate a lot of them over the two years."
"You a-ate them?"
Luffy nodded.
"A lot of them died during Hancock's last visit too. The rest tend to avoid me now. So none of them should attack you if I'm around."
"I see. That's amazing."
"Right?"
He started smiling again and they reached the ship. After greeting the girls on the ship they departed for Amazon Lily. After a few hours, they arrived at the island.
"Luffy!"
"Congrats on finishing your training!"
"Are you hungry?!"
Luffy was greeted with all kinds of cheers the moment he came off the boat. He waved at them with a huge smile on his face.
"Luffy!"
He spotted Sweet Pea and Aphelandra in the crew waving at him.
"Hey, you guys! It's been a while!"
He ran up to them with a huge grin.
"Are you guys good?"
"Yeah, we're a part of the Kuja Pirates now."
Sweet Pea puffed out her chest proudly.
"That's so cool! Wait, so that's why Marguerite came with the ship!"
He looked back at Marguerite who was smiling.
"We trained hard and got stronger."
Luffy nodded.
"I can tell. You guys definitely worked hard."
The girls started grinning.
"Marguerite."
Ran walked up to them and called out Marguerite.
"Ah, that's right. Luffy, we should get going. We don't want to keep the Snake Princess waiting."
"Oh, Hancock! Where is she? I want to see her."
"She's at the palace where we're keeping the banquet."
"Alright, let's go!"
"Are you that hungry?"
"I am, but I want to see Hancock too. I missed having her around on the island."
Ran and Marguerite's eyes widened. Luffy ignored them and started heading to the palace on his own.
"Seems like Elder Nyon's plan was more effective than we thought."
Ran mumbled. Meanwhile in the palace.
"Cook more meat! This isn't nearly enough! You, get more flowers to brighten up the place! You, play something more upbeat! And where is my dress?!"
Hancock was barking orders left, right, and center. She was moving through the banquet halls at the speed of light fixing everything to her liking. At one point it looked like there were dozens of Hancocks in the hall.
"Snake Princess, calm down. Luffy won't even care about most of this stuff."
Elder Nyon was trying to intervene.
"Guards, remove this talking sack of bones. She's ruining the mood with her negativity."
Hancock continued trying to make everything perfect.
"Big Sister, we've gotten word Luffy will be here any moment now."
Sandersonia came into the hall and reported to Hancock.
"H-He's here!"
Hancock froze in place.
"What should I do? What should I do, Granny?!"
"If I didn't know you would turn me into stone, I would've slapped some sense into you."
Elder Nyon sighed.
"Calm down, child. Just go freshen up and let us take care of the rest of the preparations."
"You're right!"
Hancock hastily left the halls without a second thought. Elder Nyon shook her head.
"Granny, did you tell sister about the plan to get her and Luffy together on the ride back to Sabody?"
Mariegold approached her and asked.
"Not yet. It's better she acts natural and doesn't force things now that they know each other better. We'll create situations for them to get closer, but it's better she has no idea what we're planning...That way she won't get too nervous and mess things up."
Elder Nyon mumbled the last part. After some time, Luffy arrived at the palace and was led to the banquet hall. A bright light illuminated the halls as the door opened. There were sparkling furniture, statues of Luffy with snakes entangled around him, and paintings of Hancock and Luffy with snakes forming hearts behind them. The sound of music echoed through the halls.
"Ohhhh!!"
But none of that matters. Luffy's eyes only widened when the large quantities of food entered his sight. He was about to run inside but stopped. He turned his head and saw Hancock walk into the hall. She was wearing a strapless red double-slit dress with the gold Kuja symbol near the bottom. She matched the dress with a pair of red stilettos with gold straps and bottoms.
"Hancock!"
Luffy ran up to her and hugged her. This caught everyone off-guard. Elder Nyon's eyes were popping out of her head.
"It's great to see you again, Hancock."
Hancock's body stiffened before she became limp in his arms.
"Huh? Hancock?"
Luffy looked and saw her limped with the eyes rolled to the back of her head.
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