Far From Home ENGLISH

I dived to the side, barely avoiding the hook that would have gutted me.I landed on my legs, not without a struggle, my heart hammering in my chest, and beads of sweat running on my face. Crocodile attacked me again: a kick this time, which hit my rib cage with force. I fell back, and my back violently hit the wooden planks of the ship. Because of it, I stopped breathing for a second, and everything around me was spinning. Why did I agree to let this man take care of my physical training ? I felt like every part of my body might fall apart if I dared move.

Of course, my vampire ancestor, Julius, had trained me. As did my godfather, Seth, who was conveniently also a vampire. But both had always been more delicate and seemed to like to teach. Here, I felt like if I made a mistake, Crocodile would punch me very hard. Well… In a way, it wasn’t so different from the elementary training sessions that Tom used to give me, as each time I was being insubordinate, he would punish me with a curse, and even sometimes, with the doloris. 

A shadow hid the sunshine from me and I frowned, looking at the brown-haired man who was looking me up and down, his arms crossed on his chest.

“You really are pathetic without your magic.”

I coughed with force and rolled onto my stomach to try and stand up. “Pathetic”, I’d like to see him try… He was lucky I had agreed to train without using my magic, otherwise, he would have fallen victim to a painful doloris or I would have just prevented any oxygen from entering his body. It was one of the techniques Tom had tried to teach me.

Crocodile just kept staring at me with an air of superiority which was getting on my nerves. Stupid pirate. Why did I save him again? Ah, yeah… I needed someone to help me and he had been the first powerful person I had crossed paths with. And maybe I had felt compassionate enough when I saw he was being attacked by a man controlling magma. Fire was far from being my favourite element since Nathanael, the Gryffindor heir and fire elementary, had decided to chase after me without giving me a single break. And all of this in order to convince me to join his cause…

I was finally able to stand on my two feet and I gave a dirty look at the man who could control sand.

“Don’t try me. I could as well use my magic to turn you into a true handbag. And at least, I don’t have a stupid name,” I spat.

“Fufufu! She does have a point here,” Doflamingo sniggered. 

 I glared daggers at him just because he had dared open his damn mouth. He was sitting on the edge of the ship and was observing our training session. And of course, he would throw nasty comments here and there. Stupid flamingo.

Crocodile raised an eyebrow while looking at the blonde man: “You shouldn’t get into that. I could throw you into the sea.” He turned to me again. “As for you, don’t you dare provoke me. I could stop playing nice with you and break your bones.”

Doflamingo rolled his eyes, thrust his hands in his pockets and stood up. He stepped in front of me to face Crocodile.

“Kiddo, watch how one should fight. And maybe after that, you will be able to punch him efficiently enough.” Doflamingo flashed his cocky grin.

I sighed with annoyance, but I took some steps back to watch the two men fight. I would have loved to say that I couldn’t care less about what they were doing, but I was forced to admit that I was dumbstruck by their quick moves and blows. I was now certain that Julius and Seth would both have loved to face them just for fun. And maybe, just maybe, both vampires would have lost in front of one of the two pirates. At any rate, no death eater would have been able to face them for more than two minutes if they were engaged in a hand-to-hand fight.

Doflamingo had leapt forward, and kicked Crocodile so fast, that his shape was almost just a blur of colours. The brown-haired man barely avoided the blow and threw a punch with his hook towards the blonde’s face. Doflamingo bent backwards, barely avoiding a blow that could have broken his jaw, and he caught his opponent’s wrist. He spun and used the sand man’s momentum to make him fall on the floor. He was going to kick him in the face, when the other man rolled on the side, jumped on his feet, and struck back.

When the hook connected with Doflamingo’s stomach, I was surprisingly relieved to have turned the metal of the hook into wood, and to have bowed the deadly point, before starting training. Otherwise, Doflamingo would have been gutted. Since I had no medicinal plants whatsoever, I would have had to use a spell to heal the blonde man, which  were generally less effective than potions.

I watched as they were trading blow after blow until Doflamingo managed to overpower Crocodile and to push him against the floor.

“Fufufu… Looks like your bones are a bit rusty,” Doflamingo grinned up at him.

Crocodile freed himself, stood up, and dusted his coat with a detached air. Yet, he was clearly grumpy that he had lost. All the more so because the former king of Dressrosa could not use his devil fruit’s powers and he was weakened by the shackles. He was a formidable opponent! I was suddenly very glad to train with Crocodile…

“You see, Lilwen-chan, this is how you can make a handbag with crocodile skin.”

I held back an incredulous laugh while Crocodile glared daggers at Doflamingo.

“Don’t fool yourself, you just got lucky, you dimwit.”

I decided to talk before the blonde could answer:

“How do you want me to catch up with you both? You are as fast as vampires! Your skin is turning black and as hard as steel! And I am supposed to be able to give you a blow? It’s utterly impossible!”

Both men looked at me with dismay during what felt like hours, when it was in fact just a few seconds. I wondered what I could possibly have said to have them reacting that strangely.

“A vampire? Those weak creatures who fear the sun and garlic? The ones who steal people’s blood, feed on them, and make them age faster?” Crocodile asked, intrigued.

  It was my turn to be surprised by what he had said. How were vampires weak? Julius and Seth could behead a human just with the edge of their hands. One couldn’t fancy such creatures as weak! And why should they be afraid of garlic? And since when did the vampire make people get older faster?

“He’s got a point. Vampires are weak and it is almost an insult that you dare compare us to them. Well, I can understand that you think that Croccy is at their level, but me? I am far stronger than them!” Doflamingo said with a tint of anger when faced with my silence.

If I had to take it from their facial expressions, vampires in this world were probably very different from the ones in mine. I held back a smile when imagining my godfather fight against one of those two and wipe the floor with them. It would be so pleasing to see him take them down a peg or two!

Crocodile rolled his eyes, but didn’t answer Doflamingo's remark. He had probably concluded that the man was too desperate a case to spend energy arguing with him.

“I think vampires from my world are really different from others. Yes, they do fear the sun, but garlic is inefficient against them. What’s more, they feed on human blood, so it is normal that their victims are feeble if they have lost a lot of blood. However, they have never made someone age faster. They can also control people’s minds, and they are faster and stronger than humans. And I might add an obvious point: they are immortals. So they are not as weak as you think, or as weak as the vampires of this world.”

 Both men seemed shocked by what I just said. Yet, Crocodile ended up considering my words and nodding at me.

“Indeed, it seems there are a lot of differences between your world and ours. However, Lilwen, apart from the fact your vampires are not like ours, you will have to learn how to fight if you want to live in this world. You will not always be able to use your magic in time. If you really want to find the One Piece, we will have to fight against the Marines, just because we are pirates, but we will also have to face our rivals, four of whom are called “the emperors” because of their strength.”

I knew the Marines would be our main enemy, as they were basically the aurors of this world, and we were the death eaters. I had no idea who the four emperors were, how strong they were, and what they stood for. They must be more powerful than Crocodile and Doflamingo, but I was having a hard time imagining that someone could surpass them when talking about strength and power.

“Who are the four emperors? And how are they stronger than you? What are their powers?” I asked, hungrily.

The blonde man couldn’t suppress an amused smile.

“Fufufu, so many questions… Big Mom has a huge fleet and her admirals are her own children. Each of her children have their own devil fruit. It is said that she can control her opponent’s souls. But I don’t really know how her power works.” He answered.

Control people’s souls? How could such a power exist? The restrictions and energy cost must be very high to be able to use it. And more precisely, what did it entail? Was it a way to control people like we did with the imperius curse? Or was this power even more dangerous?

“Kaido lives in Wano Kuni, and he is the head of the Beast Pirates. He can turn into a dragon, and has been able to get devil fruits for most of the people in his crew. And all of this thanks to a certain moron who is currently on our ship. So, as a result, almost all the members of his crew can turn into an animal,” Crocodile explained, while throwing a dirty look the other man’s way.

Doflamingo was smiling happily, and even seemed rather proud to have given such a power to Kaido. But to turn into a dragon? It sounded totally impossible to me! Animagi could only take the form of non-magical creatures, and yet, a dragon was both a magical creature and a beast too huge for a human to adopt its form. But then again, we were talking about devil fruits… And those could turn someone into a dangerous and mythical creature.

I could not refrain from thinking of the Triwizard Tournament and of the Hungarian Horntail that had almost killed Harry. Being able to turn into a dragon was having access to an incredibly dangerous amount of power.

“How could you give so many devil fruits? An entire fleet would need at least a hundred of them! And I thought it was very hard to find those fruits…” I said when I remembered what Crocodile had taught me about this world.

“I didn’t give him any devil fruits, I gave him Smiles. Those are synthetic reproductions of real devil fruit. My scientist is smart enough to be able to create some, and it has been very beneficial to me. As Kaido’s protection has been. After all, his support is an offer one cannot refuse. Even if I doubt he will offer me a second chance now that the Mugiwaras have destroyed my Smile factory.”

I saw Doflamingo’s jaw tightened in anger. I still didn’t know why Mugiwara had attacked Doflamingo and had let him be captured by the Marine; but it seemed to me like I would have to dig it up if I wanted to understand my soon-to-be ally. However, I had to admit that I was as annoyed at the blonde man as Crocodile was. If his deal with Kaido had been fruitful in the past, it will not stay that way now that his alliance with Kaido had been broken because of the firm’s destruction. So, all in all, probably having to fight against an overpowerful man whose crew was almost only composed of Devil fruit eaters, would be totally impossible with just the three of us. Maybe we won’t have to fight against the emperor, but if I had to believe what I had heard until now, no one would let us get closer to the One Piece without trying to stop us and find the treasure before us. So a fight seemed almost inevitable.

Well, for now, facing the dragon man didn’t seem to be in our plans, so I had time to ponder on how to protect us against one of his attacks. After all, I was an animagus, and I had been one since the age of sixteen, which was very young for a witch. Maybe finding out the weaknesses of people able to turn into animals would be easier for me.

“And what about the others?” I asked.

Crocodile sighed. “One of them is called Blackbeard. He managed to snuck inside Impel Down and to help highly wanted criminals escape in order to recruit them. And as he could not settle with just one devil fruit, like everyone else, he has also stolen the vibration fruit. So he has two devil fruit powers.”

Doflamingo rolled his eyes. “His disproportionate ego makes him a dangerous opponent, and I know what I’m talking about.. He has quickly risen to power and I don’t know what his next move will be.”

What could those two powers look like? Was the vibration one linked to earthquakes? If it was the case, I wondered how Alix - the heir of Hufflepuff - would fare in a fight against Blackbeard. Maybe the pirate could get rid of the earth elementary for me? Then, I would not have to defend myself against his attempts at “suppressing the threat that the air elementaries were representing”. Or maybe Alix was just attacking me for his friend, Nathanael, to come and save me, as a knight in shining armor. If only I was not alone in this world, while my family, my friends, and even Nathanael and Alix were in England.

“The last one is named Red-haired Shanks. People say he can use the different hakis to the fullest. No one knows if he has eaten a devil fruit or not,” Crocodile added.

“What are these different hakis?” I asked.

The question had escaped my lips without me being able to stop it. My desire to understand was stronger than my fears at the idea of facing one of these emperors.

“Fufufu… Do you want to find out all our secrets to better stab us in the back Lilwen-chan?” Doflamingo purred.

I sighed deeply. Pirates were just like dark wizards and were always thinking the worst of people.

“If I had wanted to betray you, I wouldn’t have saved you from imprisonment. I would like to understand this world better to get to the One Piece quicker.”

“Even if it costs me to say this, I must admit that Doflamingo might be right. It might be important to train you, but it shouldn’t be done for free. I only sail the seas with you to pay my debt, but I don’t have to answer all your questions,” Crocodile said.

I looked at both men with surprise. Did they both just deny me information which was vital for me to survive in this world? I struggled to reign in my anger, and to appear as calm as always. I was partly raised by Slytherins, I knew how to play this game.

“No problem. What would you say about this: for every answer you give me, I will answer one of your questions. You will learn more about my strengths and weaknesses, if it is what you’re aiming at. Or, you could just learn more about my own world. After all… I know that knowledge is the most important power.”

Both men seemed to ponder my words before nodding. I raised an aristocratic eyebrow, waiting for one of them to answer my question. Crocodile looked at me with his golden eyes, and then explained:

“There are three forms of haki. The first of them is the armament haki. He allows people to focus their energy flow in one part of their body. It turns the flesh into a black and indestructible matter. That way, the user can gain superhuman strength. That’s what you saw when Doflamingo and I fought.”

So that was how both men made their attacks more efficient and dangerous without having to use their devil fruit users powers. I wondered if I would be able to master this haki. If it was really just a matter of controlling one’s energy flows, I knew it would be doable for me.

“The second type of haki is the observation haki. People who can control it can increase their senses. And for the most gifted and trained, they can see a few seconds of the immediate future.”

I couldn’t help but scoff with disdain. Few people were really able to tell the future, and most of the ‘seers’ were just frauds. Trelawney was one of the best examples for that, as she had just made two real prophecies in her life. And those two prophecies had cost a lot for Harry, as well as for Tom. Not to mention the one that was about me and the others elementaries which had been made a thousand years ago.

Doflamingo tilted his head, an amused smile on his lips.

“Something the matter, Lilwen?”

I smiled as an answer, a hypocritical air clearly visible on my face.

“I don’t know if you really want me to answer this question in exchange for your information about the different forms of haki. I feel like the trade would be a bit… unfair.”

“Fufufu. You are right. I’m going to skip your answer and make an hypothesis: if you react that way, it’s because you are very doubtful about this aspect of the observation haki.”

Crocodile rolled his eyes and continued, as if he hadn’t been interrupted:

“And finally, people who master the conqueror’s haki can control other people’s will around them. It’s the hardest form of haki one can learn.”

That haki was close to the Imperius curse but with it, we could force our will on more than one person at a time. It was very interesting. That being said, that trick must cost more effort as its action field was bigger. How could we control someone for all the time we needed - if we had the energy for it, that is- or could we just use it for one action? I hoped I would see this power to use, to be able to learn more about it.

“As for my question: how did you get into our world?” The black-haired man asked.

I sighed because of this question that I feared. I knew that giving this information to the men wouldn’t help them gain an advantage on me, but I didn’t want to think of what had happened just before I arrived in this ocean.

I leant against the ship’s guardrail, looking at the waves rippling this deep blue expanse. A lukewarm breeze plaid with my hair, giving me the strength to answer.

“In my world, people able to control the elements are very rare. There are only eight families in the whole world. However, we are the main subject of a prophecy which describes our power as something capable of changing the worlds and nations, for the better or the worse. So you can guess that my power to control the air is very coveted and feared. A man who works in the British Ministry for Magic, Castiel, has decided that he wanted to control the powers of all the different elementaries. And that, just in order to control the four elements and to become the most powerful man.”

I looked at the two pirates and searched their faces for their reactions. Crocodile had leaned against the guardrail and had his arms crossed. He was listening to me closely. As for Doflamingo, he had sat on the steps leading to the rudder and was smiling at me as only a predator could do. No doubt that discovering I was powerful had sparked his interest.

“He captured me because I was the only “chosen one” among the elementaries living in England, my country, and so I was the closest. When I say “chosen one”, I mean that the curse the first elementary families created, decided that my personality was a great match with air elementaries values, and so it gave me the power to control the air. This curse has been created for the elementary families to never die, and it is supposed to be triggered every thousand of years.”

“Smart move,” whispered Doflamingo.

I hesitated to admit that my weakness was one of the reasons I had been the first to be targeted by Castiel. It would be like confessing that I wasn’t at my full strength right now, but it would also help me gain the two warlords’ trust. If I were to be honest with them, I would have more chances that they would answer my questions truthfully. What is more, I was already physically weaker than them, so if they knew that my powers were not at the fullest, what would it change?

“I’m also the least trained of the four elementaries living in Great Britain. And this is without taking into account that I am a rather good mean to lure Tom, the water elementary. This is for these reasons that Castiel captured me. He has only decided to send me in this world through the veil at the Ministry for Magic because he couldn’t find a way to take away my powers and use them.”

Besides, the man was certainly very proud of having found out the secret of the veil that was in the Department of Mysteries. No one before him had been able to find its purpose. I wondered how he had found out this piece of information…

“And after all, I am of more use to him if I am alive and if I don’t represent a threat, than dead. That way, it is easier for him to lure Tom in.”

Even if I really doubted that Tom would sacrifice himself for me, no matter the advantages I brought him by being a deatheater… I knew that I cared about him, that I loved to learn besides him, but I also liked to talk with him. But I knew that my way of seeing things was often in opposition with the dark lord’s view and that, most of the time, my being with him and my numerous protests were a problem for him. In the end, it didn’t matter if I was an air elementary and was working for him, he was certainly better off without me. And… Why would the Dark Lord care about me? The only person he cared about was Harry, and it was because the Gryffindor was Tom’s horcrux.

“Fufufu…”

Doflamingo’s laugh made me snap out of my thoughts and I felt confused as to why he had laughed. What was so funny in what I just said?

“So you are stuck in our world and looking for the One Piece in the hope that it would hide a power able to send you back home. I wonder what you will do if there is nothing of the sort… Maybe I would hesitate to kill those stupid Marines, If you joined them…”

He stood up and got closer to me, towering over me.

“Or maybe I will be too happy to kill you after you have deprived me of my powers…” he whispered in a menacing tone.

I gave him a defiant look, noting that Crocodile had just rolled his eyes in exasperation. I took a step closer to the blonde man, being now just centimetres away from his body. Did he really think that I was defenceless? Maybe I didn't have all the knowledge necessary to use my powers to their fullest, but I was a Deatheater, and more importantly: I was a Malfoy. I had survived sixteen years of my life in the muggle world, I had lived through the Doloris thrown my way, and I had faced vampires, werewolves and other wizards that had opposed my family.

“If you are not too busy writhing in pain at my feet. Imagine, every fibre of your body seemingly catching fire, the lack of control over your aching limbs… I would take great delight in hearing your screams if you ever try to come against me. And above all, you can threaten me all you want, but don’t forget you owe me your partial freedom, and you will owe me your entire freedom soon enough. I can still decide to let those chains on your wrists until you die. Or maybe I could just throw you to the sea? I think that devil fruit eaters cannot swim.”

I raised an eyebrow and smiled when Doflamingo showed surprise for just a few seconds, before he smiled back at me.

“Fufufu… So creative Lilwen-chan. Now, now,... I was just teasing you. I am not dumb enough to attack my… “savior””.

Crocodile stepped between us:

“Are you done? Maybe we could hear Lilwen’s question out? I think it is her turn to ask something.”

Indeed, it was my turn now. I pondered some moments, before deciding what I would ask them.

“You have both mentioned someone called ‘Mugiwara’ a couple of times now. Who is he?”

The black-haired pirate seemed amused by my question, whereas Doflamingo became tense. Who was this man who could make this conceited man so mad?

“He is a pirate with a small crew. His whole name Is Monkey D. Luffy. He played a key role in the war at Marineford. - The war was between the Marines and Whitebeard’s pirates.- I met him in Alabasta, when he messed with my coup d’état. He is the reason why I was sent it Impel Down. Strangely enough, he was only the one who helped me escape this prison when he got in the building to try and save his brother. I have never seen a boy with such luck. He always manages to get away from the worst situations despite his clear lack of intellect…” Crocodile drawled.

If that boy had beaten him, then he must be very powerful. But why had he been opposed to Crocodile’s coup d’état in Alabasta? And more importantly, why did the latter plan one? I knew that the black-haired man might not be an angel, but what had led him to do that? And also, why was he so calm when talking about someone who seemed to be his enemy? Had he become an ally of Mugiwara when he had been saved by him? Strangely enough, I doubted it was for this reason. After all, it seemed he didn’t hate that Luffy, but he was no fan of him. In a way, how Crocodile thought made me think of the relationship between Severus and Harry, before Harry’s living conditions at the Dursley had been discovered: scorn, anger, but also some respect for the boy’s bravery, and mainly: a lack of understanding…

“You are acting all soft to talk about a boy who has cost you both your kingdom and ‘crew’, ” Doflamingo rumbled, a dangerous air around him.

Crocodile just raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? I didn’t think you care about my feelings towards Mugiwara and my former lackeys. Maybe you react that way because you cannot overcome having lost against Mugiwara?”

  A vein popped on the blonde’s forehead as he clenched his fists furiously. He grabbed Crocodile’s collar, a smile full of rage gracing his lips. It was the first time I saw him truly beyond himself and I couldn’t prevent myself from taking a step back.

“That brat has killed my crew members… My family! He has destroyed my firm and consequently my alliance with Kaido. I lost my kingdom to him! My best scientist! He is also the reason I got captured by the Marines and that I am stuck on this ship with you. Believe me, when I find him, I will kill his entire crew in front of him, and I will end him. And I’ll reserve you the same fate if you dare stand in my way.”

Crocodile put on a fake smile, slapped the other man’s hand to make him lose his grip on his collar. Then, he took care of thoroughly dusting his coat, a detached air on his face.

“Now, now… I wouldn’t like to…Stand in your way. I have better things to do. Maybe you should ask Lilwen a question to simmer down, you seem very tense.”

Of course, the man controlling the sand couldn’t help himself and added fuel to the fire. Next days will be very long… I wondered how Mugiwara had managed to vanquish the pink-coated warlord. I could understand the man’s hatred: to lose one’s family was the worst feeling in the world.

Doflamingo growled, but turned to me, his arms crossed.

“Who’s Tom?”

I sighed. It was only logical that both men asked me about him as I had mentioned him before, but I’d rather not talk about our relationship. I did not know how to even begin to answer this question truthfully… Yet, I couldn’t lie to them and be impersonal about my story when Doflamingo had at least shown emotions when answering my questions.

“Well, Tom is… my mentor. He is the one who taught me how to control my elementary magic. As I have said before, he is a water elementary, and more precisely, he is Salazar Slytherin’s heir. As you can guess, Salazar is the one who has created the Slytherin house at Hogwarts. Tom is the most feared dark wizard in my country and he is considered as the “Dark Lord''. He goes by the name of “Lord Volddemort”. And as I am a death eater, he is also my master. Except Seth and Julius, all my family obeys him…

Crocodile frowned, whereas Doflamingo seemed confused:

“You obey his slightest whims?”

I couldn’t suppress a smile when hearing the blonde talk. Tom had always struggled to make me obey him, and he had discovered that the Doloris wouldn’t help him in making me respect him. I was a little bit too fond of my freedom to obey him and yield under torture. And, as I went on with our lessons on elementary magic, I had gotten closer to Tom, and his punitions had been more spaced. Now, I knew I could give him a piece of my mind about his decisions, if I did it in private.

“It is what I am supposed to do, yes. But I am not really good at following orders. I think he would have killed me a long time ago if I wasn’t an elementary.”

Crocodile nodded and said, “If you don’t have any other questions, I am going back to manoeuvring this ship and check if we are still heading in the right direction. Maybe you should enjoy this time to take a shower? I don’t think you smell like roses after our little training session.”

A polite way of telling me that I was dismissed… Well, anyway, he was right. I nodded and went in the holds, waving at them mockingly before disappearing from their view.

I let the water run to let it get warmer while I was taking off my clothes. I shivered because of the cold room. I smiled and went under the water, the warm drops falling on my body and relaxing my aching muscles. I sighed with relief, leaning against the wall and backing in this soothing contact.

How long until I found the One Piece? It seemed to me as if it was going to take me years if we took our numerous enemies into account. I closed my eyes, pained at this idea. Would I have to wait years before I could see my parents again? Me, that had only found them after living  sixteen years in the muggle world… I had been lucky that my ancestor, Julius, had found me during one of his business trips in Paris. How would my life have been if I had not been abducted a month after being born? I was often wondering… But why make hypotheses on what could have been? I couldn’t change anything about my past. All I could do, here and now, was try everything to find new allies and get to the One Piece the fastest I could. Strengthened by this new resolve, I dried my skin and put on the clothes I had washed and dried with my magic.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror for some moments, noting that my snowy hair was now long enough to brush my lower back, and they were also wavy because of the ocean’s clammy air. I tied them in a low ponytail and went back to the ship’s kitchen.

Doflaingo sat at the table and was peeling potatoes. The picture seemed odd enough for me to laugh lightly. After all, who would have thought that the imposing man would be patient enough to cook something?

He turned his head towards me when he heard me enter, then he focused back on his task.

“I think I am going to be your ally. At least for a certain period of time.”

I was surprised by his revelation.

“What made you decide?”

He put the knife down and crossed his arms, looking at me right in the eyes.

“I have nothing left to lose. I don’t have a crew anymore. I am wanted by both Kaido and the Marines. Despite all my powers, it is safer for me to get allies to protect myself.”

It was a Slytherin way of seeing things, but it was mainly very rational. These last few days, I had often doubted my decision to save Doflamingo from prison. But now that he seemed alright with joining us, I couldn’t help but feel relieved.

Yet, his new resolve didn’t mean I intended on removing the kairoseki chains and giving him his powers back. I intended on being true to my words when I saved him on the Marine ship. He would be able to use his devil fruit powers back when he would have reached the next island.

“And I also have the feeling that staying with you will be fun. Especially watching you try to live in my world.”

Of course… It was too good to be true.

“Well, I am absolutely ecstatic,” I deadpanned in a growl that would have made Severus proud.

I sat next to him and helped him cook while waiting for Crocodile to join us. It had been the only day when someone had helped me in the kitchen before we arrived at Horssole island.