Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Percy awoke with a soft groan, rolling onto her side to try and shield herself from the sun streaming through the trees.

Wait, sun?

It took her a moment to remember what, exactly, had happened. And then, reality hit her like a truck, and she bolted upright, her eyes getting wider and wider as she took in the literal jungle surrounding her.

“So it wasn’t a dream?” she murmured, a bit at a loss.

She remembered the fear and the fall and the prayer she made—

“COME BACK HERE!!!”

She shuddered violently, shaking her head to rid herself of the echo, before focusing on her surroundings once more. Being alive could only mean that everything was real, because she most definitely shouldn’t have survived that fall.

                  And if she’d survived the fall, if a random deity out there really took pity and answered her prayer in full, then…

I’m in the world of One Piece, she thought, a bit numbingly. I have to be, right? Though, I suppose I should find out where and when…

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled, but she pushed down the familiar, painful twists of hunger and started walking. As she quickly breached the edge of the jungle, the breath was almost knocked out of her lungs.

It’s… so beautiful…

The sun shone brightly, making the sea below sparkle like diamonds, and the fresh breeze brought tears to her eyes. She unconsciously rubbed her wrists, still sore and wounded, and a wobbly smile graced her lips as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

                  She was going to make the most of this second chance.

It took a little over a week for Percy to get used to her brand-new freedom. She’d found her way to a small village and had started renting a room in the singular inn located there, paying for it by helping out at the bar or doing odd jobs around. She didn’t have a lot of strength or stamina, but the innkeeper was quite happy to simply have another set of helping hands around to help clean the rooms or wash the dishes. The older woman also never questioned where she came from, only saying “we get a lot of strays around these parts” and leaving it at that.

                  It all felt like a dream, honestly – until Percy stumbled upon the docks, where a singular, all-too-familiar flag was flapping in the wind.

The Whitebeard Pirates are still going strong, she then realized. I need to find out how far along we are in the story.

After some asking around, Percy discovered that it had been 19 years since Gold Roger’s execution – meaning the original story hadn’t started yet. And so, with hope weighing heavily in her heart, Percy soon found her way in the mayor’s office.

“No.”

“Sir, I’m begging you—”

“We are under the protection of the Whitebeard Pirates. We trust them to keep us safe and, in return, they trust us not to abuse that privilege,” snapped the mayor. “They’re not mere errand boys we can simply call upon when we see fit! They entrusted us with a mean to contact them only for utmost emergencies!”

“But it is an emergency!” she pleaded, desperate.

“Girl—”

“Please!!! I know it’s difficult to understand and- and I know you have no reason to believe me, but Whitebeard and his crew are in danger!!!”

That was the wrong thing to say to a man who had the utmost faith in the Whitebeard Pirates’ strength – which wasn’t misplaced, of course, but still. Percy ended up kicked out despite her pleadings and, resigned, she started making her way back to the inn. As she passed by the docks, though, her eyes caught the flag hanging high, and her heart dropped a bit as a horrible idea crossed her mind.

                  If she burnt down that flag…

No, she stopped herself, quickly walking away. I’ll try something else first.

Percy ended up breaking into the Mayor’s office – which wasn’t exactly difficult, seeing as there was no protection whatsoever. Percy did feel bad about it, since it was clear that everyone in this village trusted each other implicitly and she was basically ruining that all on her own, but it was necessary.

                  Her heart beating fast, she pulled out the white snail with Whitebeard’s flag painted on the shell and, after one more moment of hesitation, she started a call. It took a few seconds, before someone finally picked up.

“Mayor Olsen? What’s up-yoi?”

“Marco the Phoenix,” she greeted, a bit breathless.

Oh thank goodness I got someone with a distinct speech pattern!

“… you’re not Mayor Olsen. Who’re you-yoi?”

“My- my name is Percy. And I’m contacting you because I have very important information I need to deliver directly to your Captain. You need to come, quickly!”

There was a sigh. “Look, kid, this snail isn’t for games. We’re busy pirates—”

“No, please, this is truly urgent—”

“I’m going to take this as a prank and not pursue it further, but don’t call again unless there’s really an emergency—”

“Damn it, if you care for your brothers’ lives, then you better come!” she snapped.

Without thinking, she hung up. She could feel a cold sweat running down her back, before shaking her head and carefully putting the snail back. Thankfully, it didn’t start ringing back, but…

I hope he takes me seriously, she thought, her guts churning.

As it turned out, Marco the Phoenix didn’t take threats to his brothers’ safety lightly – and he did, in fact, take her seriously. So seriously, in fact, that a mere two days later, the Moby Dick itself along with half the fleet showed up.

I’m dead, she thought, feeling a bit lightheaded as she watched them drop anchor, the Moby Dick dwarfing the entire village even though it was a bit far off from the shore. But hey, at least it’s for a good cause, right?

She slowly made her way down to the docks, where the entire village was quickly gathering to cheerfully greet their protectors. As she got closer, she could now see Mayor Olsen sweating heavily and discussing animatedly with the one and only Whitebeard, who’d seemingly seen fit to come himself.

He’s so fricking tall…!

“I understand the situation,” finally said Whitebeard, his voice immediately quieting down the entire crowd, which he then turned to face with narrowed eyes. “Tell me: where is the one who made the call? Where is this Percy?”

Murmurs immediately washed over the crowd – it’s not like Percy could go unnoticed in such a small village, after all, so they pretty much all knew who she was and, most importantly, where she was staying. Most were already pointing in direction of the inn as well, obviously eager to be of some help.

Well, I’ll spare them the trouble, I guess…

“I- I’m here!”

She tried not to flinch as all eyes immediately fell upon her, and the whispers grew louder. She could see the mayor about to pop a vein, obviously very angry. Whitebeard quirked a brow upon seeing her, obviously expecting something… more, while the few men accompanying him, including Marco the Phoenix, all eyed her suspiciously.

“Come here, lass.”

The crowd almost immediately parted and, bracing herself, Percy gathered all of her courage and quickly crossed the distance separating them. She only stopped once she reached him, standing a mere meter away and having to crane her neck all the way back in order to look him in the eyes properly. He was terrifying and could probably snap her neck with a single, backhanded smack, but she also knew him to be a good man. He’d at least hear what she had to say before passing judgement – though whether he believed her would be an entirely other matter.

“You’re the one who made that call?”

“I am,” she confirmed, sounding a lot braver than she really felt.

“And do you stand by what you said?”

She straightened her shoulders. “I do.”

“Eh.” After staring her down for a few seconds, he glanced to the mayor. “Mayor Olsen, may we borrow your office?”

“Of course, of course! Right this way!”

Letting out a small breath of relief, Percy tried her best to ignore the hostile glares from Whitebeard’s men as she followed their Captain and the mayor up to the public hall, where the mayor’s office was located. Quite frankly, it was a tight fit, but Whitebeard somehow managed to pass the door. As the mayor left, only Whitebeard, Marco and she were left in the room, and she gulped as she realized that it was crunch time.

“You went to great lengths to get me here,” mused Whitebeard. “Going even as far as to threaten my sons’ lives, I hear.”

“I- I didn’t threaten them!” she instantly refuted. “It was a warning!”

Marco scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Sure didn’t sound like it.”

“Do I look like I could hurt anyone? Honestly, I’d be more at risk of breaking my own wrist if I tried punching anyone,” she huffed, forcing her nerves down.

“Then why are we here, lass?” cut Whitebeard before Marco could reply. “We came all this way, so we might as well hear it. But know that if you wasted my time and threatened my sons’ lives for naught, I won’t be happy.”

“N- noted, sir.”

“Then?”

She took a deep breath, then decided to get right to it. “There’s a traitor in your midst.”

“You’re lying,” immediately snapped Marco.

“I’m not! Look, this is difficult to explain, but I- I kind of know the future, okay? And sometime this year, your cook, Thatch, is going to find a very powerful Devil Fruit! But one guy from the 2^nd Division, Marshall D. Teach, will kill him for it!”

The mayor’s desk split open, and Percy slapped her hands over her ears, immediately recoiling and stumbling away. Her back hit the wall, and she slid down to the floor, trembling as she braced herself for the incoming pain.

                  After a few seconds of tensed silence, however… nothing happened.

“Oi. We’re not gonna hurt you, kid-yoi.”

She inhaled sharply, barely daring to look back toward them. Though they still looked angry, her intense reaction to Whitebeard breaking the desk had unexpectedly mollified them, if nothing else.

“… I’m not lying,” she finally bit out, forcing herself to calm down. “I know- I know you trust your crew implicitly, both of you. But Teach- Teach is a monster. And Thatch is going to die if you don’t do anything to stop him, and then- then Ace will go after him for vengeance and get captured and there’ll be a war to stop his execution and then- then Whitebeard will die trying to save him and Ace will die saving his little brother and—!”

Holy shit I can’t believe I blurted all that out what the hell am I doing…!

“Hey, hey! Kid, come on, snap out of it—hey! Percy!”

It took a few minutes for Percy to snap out of the panic attack which, quite frankly, had been a long time coming. Marco was unexpectedly helpful and, with a glass of cold water held in trembling hands, Percy eventually found the strength again to look Whitebeard in the eyes.

“I’ve seen terrible things,” she insisted, her throat tight. “And I know- I know you have no reason to believe me. But if you don’t, many people will get hurt, or worse. If- if there’s anything I can do so that you’ll at least give my words the benefit of the doubt, then—”

“I’ve heard enough.”

Her heart dropped, and her breathing immediately picked up. “No, please, sir—!”

“I don’t believe you. But, I don’t disbelieve you, either. Your eyes are too earnest for that,” he admitted, his expression softening just the slightest bit. “You obviously believe your own words, whether they’re true or not.”

“T- then…”

“Where are you from, lass?”

“I—what?” she blinked, a bit taken aback by the sudden turn of the conversation.

“Mayor Olsen explained that you’ve only arrived about two weeks ago. He said that you suddenly came out of the jungle, severely injured and malnourished, but that you only started causing a stir when you insisted he call us, before doing it yourself.”

“I…”

She didn’t want to lie. She’d read enough books to know that this type of lies always came back to bite characters in the ass. But at the same time, her story was even more ludicrous than the truth she was trying to share with them.

“… You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you,” she finally settled for saying. “But when my predictions come to pass, hopefully, you’ll be a bit more inclined to.”

“Hm. Fair enough. Marco, inform the nurses to prepare an extra bed in their quarters – Percy will be our guest until this mess has been sorted out.”

Percy’s eyes widened. “I- I’m coming with you?”

Whitebeard quirked a brow. “Like you said, lass, I don’t exactly trust you. At the very least, I can’t leave a clearly unstable person in a village under my protection.”

“That’s… fair, I suppose.”

“Good, then that’s settled. Go get your things and we’ll be going, then.”

She winced a bit as she rose to her feet. “A- actually, I don’t… have anything. I’ve only borrowed some stuff from the innkeeper, but I don’t have anything.”

Whitebeard and Marco exchanged a look, but didn’t say any more on the subject, and Percy let out a small sigh as she realized she wouldn’t be dying today, after all.

Chapter Text

Life aboard the Moby Dick was a bit of an awkward affair. Marco had quickly explained in no uncertain terms that she was to keep her “divinations” to herself, and that she shouldn’t get in the way of the rest of the crew or distract them or, obviously, harm them. As far as the others were aware, she was only a temporary guest because Whitebeard had promised Mayor Olsen to “look after her”, and she shouldn’t say more on the subject if asked.

                  No one asked, though.

                  No one talked to her, to be quite frank.

                  Well, the nurses were kind enough, if a bit cold. They obviously took great pride in their job and having an extra around who couldn’t pull her own weight or wasn’t a “part of the team” obviously put them out a bit. So, Percy did what she did best: made herself as small and unnoticeable as possible, stayed out of the way, and only spoke when spoken to. Before long, the nurses returned to their routines, quickly forgetting about her.

                  Percy wore the same three outfits lent to her, washing them regularly and repairing them when needed. She only went to the kitchens once a day to pick out a few snacks – mostly stuff that was about to go bad, so as not to waste it – and she never went out on the deck, so as not to get in the way. After a few days of getting used to the rhythm at sea, she started finding odd jobs to occupy herself. She washed the nurses’ uniforms as well as their bedsheets, kept the medical supply shelves organized, and cleaned the women’s quarters daily. She also took to helping clean the kitchens during the night or early in the morning, making sure not to be seen so the cooks wouldn’t freak at having someone in their space.

                  However, one night, she got caught.

“Ah, ah! I knew it!”

She let out a small, startled squeak and inadvertently dropped the plate she’d been washing. It smashed in pieces as it hit the floor, and she immediately dropped to her knees, terror filtering her veins as she hurried to gather the pieces.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—”

“Hey, hey, don’t do that! You’re gonna—!”

Pain flared in her palm, but she ignored it and kept on picking up the pieces. Rough, but gentle hands suddenly grabbed her wrists, making her stop and drop all of them. When she instinctively tried to move to pick them up again, the man’s grip tightened.

“No. Look, you’re hurt.”

She gasped when she saw the blood dripping from her palm and onto the floor. “I- I’m so sorry! I’ll clean it up, I swear!”

“Hey, that’s not exactly the issue here,” sweatdroped the man, gently but firmly forcing her back to her feet. “Come on, come sit for a bit.”

She kept on apologizing under her breath, in a bit of a daze, as the man led her to the nearest table and made her sit down. He left but returned quickly with a first-aid kit. When she made a move to grab it, though, he pushed her hand away.

“I can do it—”

“Hey, you got hurt because I startled you. Just let me do it.”

All protests died in her throat as the man startled gently cleaning the admittedly deep cut on her palm, before wrapping it with practiced ease. She was a bit awestruck, to be honest. How long had it been since someone last treated one of her wounds?

“There, as good as new! Man, Marco would be proud.” The man deflated a bit at his own words. “Well, maybe not if he learned I caused it in the first place… but hey, he doesn’t need to know, right?”

“Who- who are you…?” she finally dared to ask, not at a bit of a loss.

“Huh?” The man grinned, and everything suddenly fell into place. “I’m Thatch, 4^th Division Commander and this ship’s cook. And you are the mysterious kitchen fairy who’s been lightening my workload for the past three weeks, aren’t you?”

“I- I’m Percy,” she finally managed to stutter out. “And I- I’m deeply sorry for invading your kitchen of the sort, I—”

“Are you kidding? You’re a godsend, kid!” he immediately cut, beaming at her. “I love my cooks, I do, but they’re such a messy bunch! And feeding this entire crew isn’t easy, either. Having someone do the clean-up really helps me out a lot!”

“O- oh.” She looked down, a slightly pleased flush gracing her cheeks. “I- I’m glad I could help, then. Sorry about the plate, though.”

“Pff, it’s a plate,” he snorted, shaking his head. “Haven’t you ever noticed how many of those break on a daily basis? Our crew’s a rowdy bunch, I’m surprised you never saw it.”

“A- actually, I don’t really… eat with everyone else.”

Thatch paused, before giving her a once-over. “Now that you mention it… I don’t think I’ve seen you around much. Or ever, for that matter. Where’d you come from?”

“Sepsis.”

“Oh, you’re the mysterious guest Marco warned us about! Man, you sure are quiet, huh? If I hadn’t thought I was going crazy from the clean-up magically doing itself, I probably wouldn’t have ever noticed you,” he laughed.

That was kind of the point, though…

“Though, why?” he suddenly asked, now curious. “You’ve been around for almost a month now, right? So why don’t we ever see you around?”

“Ma- Marco told me not to get in the way,” she answered, picking nervously at the flesh around her nails.

“Aah? That bastard!” he exclaimed, clearly offended. “I’ll tell him—!”

“No!” Panicked, she grabbed his shirt when he made a move to get up. “He- he didn’t mean it in a rude way! I just—I don’t really know my way around a ship, and there’s very little I can do to make myself useful… It- it was ultimately my choice not to interact with the rest of the crew. Please, don’t be mad at him.”

If you do, then he’ll get mad at me, and I don’t need that on my plate right now…

“Hmph, fine,” gave in Thatch, though he still looked displeased. “But you should definitely come eat with everyone else! You—wait. When have you been eating?”

“O- oh, I usually grab something while I clean up. I- I don’t take much, promise!”

He paused for a few seconds, before genuine horror entered his eyes. “Are you—have you been eating the scraps? All the stuff that was going bad has been going missing, I thought the others had just started throwing it out—”

“I- I hope it wasn’t an inconvenience—”

“Kid, stop.” She gulped, and Thatch pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing in deeply. “You’ve been barely eating for an entire month. And what you did eat was almost spoiled food or scraps. Yes or no? Just nod your head.”

A bit hesitantly, she nodded ‘yes’, and he let out a pained noise. He suddenly jumped to his feet and stalked toward the kitchen and, a bit worried, she followed after him. Her eyes widened when she saw him pulling out pans and pots.

“No, wait, that’s not necessary—”

“No one’s starving under my watch, kid,” he warned seriously. “I have my pride as a chef, you know? Now sit down and let me cook you something delicious.”

She tried to protest but, already, a mouthwatering aroma was filling the air. Her stomach cramped painfully, and she gulped.

Well, one full meal certainly won’t hurt, I suppose…

“… I’m cleaning once you’re done,” she settled for saying, sitting down on one of the nearby stools to watch him work.

He looked surprised, then laughed. “It’s a deal, little fairy.”

“Aww, and it was my favorite dress, too…!”

Davina, one of the nurses, was mourning her favorite dress. It was a beautiful piece of clothing, but there was now an awful rip in the middle, and she was hellbent on letting everyone know of her pain. The other nurses looked a bit annoyed, though fairly used to her antics, but Percy could see there was genuine pain in her eyes.

She obviously loves that dress a lot…

So, when night came and Davina left for her graveyard shift, Percy subtly took the dress away, found an empty closet, and got to work, using a simple oil lamp to light the space. It was a delicate process, even more so to make it look fairly seamless, but she was ultimately satisfied with the result. She managed to put the dress back and returned to her cot without anyone’s notice.

                  The next morning, an excited scream woke her up.

“It’s gone! The rip is gone!”

“Someone repaired your dress?” mused Mary.

“Probably got tired of her whining,” snorted Angel.

The others around laughed, and Davina laughed along. A smile graced Percy’s lips when she noticed the sincere relief in her face, though. Just as she was about to quietly get ready in her corner, however, someone unexpectedly spoke up.

“Percy repaired it.”

Silence fell over the cabin as Therese, one of the older nurses, spoke up – and all eyes almost immediately shifted to Percy, whose own widened in shock. She could tell a lot of the women were startled, obviously having forgotten she was even there, but then Davina stalked forward, a bit intimidatingly.

“You repaired my dress?” she demanded imperiously, hands on her hips.

“Y- yes,” gulped Percy, lowering her eyes.

Davina’s stony expression immediately crumbled and, with a happy squeal, she threw her arms around Percy’s shoulders, pulling her into a hug.

“It looks amazing! You’re a miracle worker! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“It- it’s nothing, really…”

“Wait, are you the one who’s been washing our uniforms?” abruptly realized Daphne.

“And our bedsheets?” gasped Angel.

“And cleaning the quarters?” added excitedly Naomi.

“And sorting out the med-shelves, too?” exclaimed Mary.

A bit overwhelmed by their enthusiasm, Percy bowed deeply. “I- I’m sorry…!”

Another silence overtook the cabin, this one a bit more awkward than before, if only because the other women now realized how much she’d actually been doing in the shadows, and how cold they’d been in return.

                  But, most importantly…

“… why are you apologizing?” asked Davina, taken aback.

“I- I invaded your personal space and touched your belongings without asking, and I- I didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, I just wanted to help—”

“Sweetie, help?” echoed Mary, aghast. “You’re a freaking gift!”

“Do you even realize just how much the men on this crazy crew get hurt? We’re always overwhelmed with patients! By the time our shift is over, we barely have any energy left to take a shower, let alone wash our clothes or clean our space!” groaned Angel.

“Thanks to you, we’ve been able to get so much more sleep!” cried Naomi.

“You may not think much of it, but you’ve been an incredible help around here,” added calmly Therese. “And that’s why I wish to offer… my sincerest apologies. Despite your best efforts, we remained ungrateful and ignorant, and treated you quite coldly as a result. We should have been more welcoming from the start. And I’m also sorry for not saying anything sooner.”

“O- oh, no, it’s quite alright, really—”

“We’re so sorry!!!” instantly exclaimed the rest of the nurses, rushing to her.

In an instant, Percy was almost crushed under a pile of suffocating hugs, despite her pleas and protests that she truly didn’t mind and that she didn’t hold a grudge. As they finally pulled away and allowed her to breathe, though, they didn’t just return to their own conversations – rather, they settled down in a circle so as to include her and started conversing as though she’d always been one of them, asking questions or directly recounting tales of the crew’s crazy adventures.

                  It was… surprisingly nice, and Percy found herself feeling warm inside.

Is this was it feels like… to have friends…?

The next week or so was spent with a new routine. The nurses no longer ignored her and tried their best to include her in their conversations. They also insisted she come to breakfast with them and, though she didn’t really eat anything, it was still a fairly enjoyable experience – the nurses had a smaller kitchen and eating space so their eating schedule would be easier to navigate with their respective shifts. She then spent her day doing her usual cleaning, washing, and sewing, before ultimately reconvening with the nurses again and hanging out for a bit. Ultimately, later in the night, she’d find her way back to the bigger mess hall where she’d do her usual end-of-day cleaning and next-morning prep. Thatch was often there to ensure she ate a proper meal and to simply hang out and, the few times he wasn’t, she always found a fuming plate waiting for her.

                  She’d like to think they were friends, now. It was difficult not to get attached, and she was trying her best not to freak out too badly at the thought of Thatch getting killed – hopefully, with her around and Whitebeard warned, things would turn out differently.

Percy was unexpectedly invited along when the nurses were allowed a day off for the few days they’d be spending on shore, on a small tropical island, in order to resupply and simply kiss firm land for a little bit. They spent the entire day shopping around before finding a private beach to hang out. Percy didn’t have any money, but the nurses insisted on buying her new clothes to replace her three worn-out outfits, at the very least. But when on the beach, she swiftly avoided getting put into a revealing swimsuit, keeping herself mostly covered.

                  Though, not enough, apparently.

“Percy!!! What happened to your hand!?”

The young girl blinked a few times as Davina’s horrified cry quickly drew the others’ attention, and she couldn’t help but feel confused as the diva of their group immediately fell into “nurse mode” and started inspecting the scab on her palm. It was healing quite nicely, honestly, but Davina didn’t seem to agree.

“Percy, when did you hurt yourself like this?” she asked.

“I- I don’t know… A little over a week ago?”

Anxious glances were immediately exchanged between the nurses, and Angel placed the back of her hand to Percy’s forehead, checking her temperature with a frown.

“No fever… I don’t think it’s infected…”

“Of course it isn’t,” replied Percy, frowning in confusion. “What are you freaking out about? It’s almost healed already!”

“What do you mean, already? Such a tiny cut should have healed within hours,” immediately protested Naomi.

“Are you insane?” gawked Percy. “That cut bled like crazy – and no wound heals in mere hours! What are you even saying?”

They only seemed more concerned by what she said though but, before any of them could reply, Therese kneeled beside her, frowning slightly.

“Percy. How long does it usually take for a cut like this to heal?”

“I- I don’t know. Can take up to a little over two weeks, depending on how deep it is?”

“Two weeks!?” screeched Davina.

“And what if you broke a bone?” continued Mary, unperturbed.

“I- I mean, depending on the type of break, it can take up to a couple of months—”

“MONTHS!?”

This time, most of the nurses echoed Davina’s unholy screech, and Percy recoiled a bit, unsure of what she’d said or done to anger them. Therese placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, though, helping her calm down.

“Percy, this kind of healing rate isn’t… healthy,” she said, a bit carefully. “It may seem normal to you if it’s all you’ve ever known, but a cut like this should have healed within hours, without even leaving a scar – and a broken bone wouldn’t take more than two days to mend, maybe three at most. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“No—no. I’m perfectly normal,” she protested. “My healing rate is well in the average. It’s always been like this! I don’t- I don’t understand what you’re saying…”

“Percy, I’d like to conduct some tests—”

“No.”

“Percy, please,” pleaded in Mary, tears in her eyes. “It’s already bad enough that you won’t eat or sleep properly, but if you don’t even heal correctly when you get hurt—!”

“We’re worried about you,” cut in Naomi. “We know you’re… not feeling your best, and that adjusting to life on the ship may be difficult. We also know that we didn’t exactly help you out with that up until recently. But we do care, Percy, and we’re worried about you. Will you please allow Therese to run some tests? Just to understand what exactly is going on, and at least ensure it’s not directly detrimental to your health?”

Percy could hardly believe the fact that they’d even noticed her eating and sleeping habits, or lack thereof, but it was hard not to feel bad when seeing all of their earnest expressions. So, with a small sigh, she eventually gave in.

“… only Therese,” she agreed, lowering her head.

Relief instantly washed over their faces, and it did help make her feel a little better. Therese squeezed her shoulder, offering her a small smile.

“Thank you. We’ll look into it back on the ship. But for now, let’s end the day on a brighter note! Girls, let’s go get ourselves some drinks!”

Chapter Text

Percy was starting to come out of her shell. She’d begun actively assisting the nurses in their daily duties, such as cleaning and disaffecting the equipment, or taking stock on the medicines, or cleaning the medbay. She’d also taken to helping the cooks out, quickly making earning a reputation as a steady hand and a trusty assistant during rush hours. She may not have been the best chef around, but she knew how to prep food, make basic recipes, and make them fast, which was good enough.

                  She still avoided the outer deck like the plague, and she still tried her best not to actively show her face around – but it was nice, to finally feel like she might really belong.

                  But then, it happened.

                  The attack.

‘BOOM’

All nurses jumped to their feet, eyes wide as cannon fire started rocking the ship.

“Everyone, to your positions!” ordered Therese, everyone immediately springing into action. “Naomi, stay here with Percy and barricade the door! Go, go, go!”

Percy barely even had the time to understand that they were actually under attack, everyone moving out quickly while Naomi swiftly locked the door and barricaded it with planks set up nearby specifically for this sort of situation.

“Won’t- won’t they need you out there?” she asked, twisting her hands nervously.

“One nurse always needs to stay behind,” replied Naomi, though she looked quite unhappy about it. “There’s no telling what may happen or who may get hurt. If, somehow, all of the nurses are out of commission, then we still need someone able to help.”

“I- I see. Does… this happen often?”

“Every couple of months or so. Small fries who think they can measure up to Whitebeard, or fools who don’t know what our flag means, mostly.”

Seeing her so calm and even nonchalant about the situation did help Percy feel a little better, and she forced herself to sit down on her cot, though her leg was still bouncing nervously. Noticing it, Naomi came to sit beside her and grabbed her hand.

“It’s going to be okay,” she assured soothingly. “I know how scary it can be the first time. But you’re safe inside. No one can get in, I promise.”

Percy simply nodded, gulping slightly. And they stayed like this, waiting for the battle outside to finish, with the walls trembling from time to time. However, as the shouts above deck started growing more distant and scattered, a feminine scream pierced the air – right outside their cabin. Naomi immediately sprung to her feet, her eyes widening with horror as she took a look outside.

“They got Angel,” she said, her throat tight. “Some of those bastards found their way down, I- I think they knocked her out to use her as a hostage.”

Fear pierced through Percy’s gut, but there was also something more. She jumped to her feet and rushed to the door, pulling off the planks.

“What are you doing!? We need to stay here—!”

“I’m not a nurse,” she snapped. “You stay here – I can go and help!”

Naomi seemed to hesitate, before giving in and helping her unblock the door. No matter the rules in place, their friend was in danger. So, Percy grabbed the nearest chair with trembling hands and, carefully, she stepped outside. At the other end of the hallway, two pirates were dragging Angel by the hair – she seemed unconscious, bleeding from the forehead, but otherwise unharmed.

“Hey, hey – think we could take her and have a bit of fun?”

“I mean…”

Percy saw red. With a scream of pure rage, she pounced and slammed the chair down on the head of the nearest pirate who promptly collapsed under the blow. A bit stunned at having knocked him out so easily, she failed to notice the second one react, releasing Angel to pounce on her, knife drawn. She let out a cry as the knife embedded itself in her shoulder, pain exploding in the back of her head as he tackled her to the floor. As she struggled against him, he was suddenly thrown right off her, one shot fired right in his temple. As he collapsed, she looked up to Naomi, wide-eyed as she noticed the fuming gun in her hands and her hardened, yet slightly shocked expression.

She’s surely never taken a life before, she realized, feeling a bit sick.

Before either of them could react or say anything, though, one more shot was fired – and Naomi’s expression bloomed with pain as she collapsed, holding her side where blood started pouring from abundantly.

“NAOMI!!!”

She barely had the time to scramble back to her feet to face the third pirate before he was promptly taken down with an unforgiving blow to the neck – he collapsed, revealing none other than Marco and a few of their own behind him. Relief instantly washed over Percy, who leaned against the wall as they all rushed toward them.

“You, take Angel! Be careful!” Marco instructed quickly, kneeling beside Naomi. “Hey, hey. Are you alright? Talk to me.”

“Ugh, that bastard…” she groaned. “But just a graze, Doc. I’m fine.”

After checking, Marco was relieved to find she was quite right. Despite the bleeding, the shot had only grazed her. He was quick to wrap her side with his jacket before instructing the remaining men to carry her to the infirmary. As the two nurses were quickly taken away, Percy carefully got back up and took a hesitant step forward.

“Marco, thank—”

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” Percy stiffened, all color immediately leaving her face as he spun to face her, clearly angry. “Do you have any idea of how badly this could have gone had we not shown up in time!?”

“I- I know, but—”

“The rules are there for a reason! Naomi wouldn’t have been stupid enough to break them, so you’re obviously to blame here! And now, two of my nurses are severely hurt because of your goddamn hero complex!”

She flinched, keeping her eyes locked to a blood spot on the floor. She could feel the anger radiating off him, and she hadn’t felt this cornered in months. She could hardly bring herself to breathe, let alone say anything to defend herself – all she knew is that if she kept quiet, he’d be less likely to hurt her.

                  Upon realizing she wouldn’t say anything, Marco scoffed and, without another word, walked away – probably to tend to his nurses. It’s only once he was gone that the pressure that had been building up in Percy’s chest was released, and she collapsed to her knees with a wheeze, tears brimming her eyes. Her head was pounding, and her arm was still bleeding profusely, but it was her heart which was hurting the most – because Marco was right. If she hadn’t acted so recklessly, Naomi wouldn’t have been hurt. If she'd just taken a few seconds to think and come up with a proper plan, then no one would have been hurt.

Damn it…

It took her a few minutes to find the strength to crawl back to their cabin, grabbing the medical kit inside on the way before dragging her feet to the bathroom. She practically collapsed to the floor, the cold tiles making her shiver, and she finally dared to take a look at her injury. It was still bleeding, and she was starting to feel a bit sluggish.

I need stitches…

This was fine. It wouldn’t be the first time she stitched herself up. Grabbing everything she’d need, she ripped her half-torn sleeve and shoved it in her mouth to bite down onto before getting to work. The work was blindingly painful, but familiar, and there was also a sick comfort to it – she deserved every ounce of it, she knew that much.

                  She passed out twice, but eventually managed to close it enough to stop the bleeding. She was getting pretty exhausted at that point, but she still needed to clean everything up. As she tried to get back up, though, her vision swayed, and she found herself unable to.

Maybe… maybe I can just rest for a few minutes…

To say Marco felt like an asshole would be an understatement.

                  He didn’t like Percy. He didn’t dislike her, but he didn’t like her, either. No matter what she said to defend herself, she’d threatened his brothers and essentially coerced his old man into taking her onboard. He didn’t believe her delusions, either, but figured it’d be best to just keep an eye on her until his Captain finally decided enough was enough and dropped her off at the next island.

                  The girl kept to herself. She didn’t cause any trouble, thankfully enough, and he admittedly forgot about her existence a couple of times. All he knew is that his nurses had taken a shine to her, and they constantly gushed about how cute and how kind she was. But now Angel was unconscious, and Naomi was hurt, and he’d admittedly lost his composure upon seeing them in such precarious states. So, he’d lashed out without a second thought before storming off, too worried to do anything else.

                  As Angel was stabilized and Naomi kept on cracking jokes, though, Marco eventually cooled down, and belatedly realized that he’d probably overreacted.

                  Most importantly, however, was that he’d left Percy to fend for herself when she’d clearly been injured as well.

What kind of doctor leaves a hurt person to fend for themselves…?

Now guilty and worried, Marco finally cracked and left the medbay, heading straight for the nurses’ quarters where he’d left Percy. The three pirates who’d assaulted her and the others had long since been cleared out, but there was still a lot of blood drying on the floor – including a trail leading right inside the cabin.

                  Okay, now he was really worried.

She wasn’t hurt that bad, was she?

The trail of blood crossed the entire cabin and led to the bathroom. His heart beating a little faster, it completely dropped from his chest when he found Percy unconscious on the floor in a pool of blood. Cursing under his breath, he rushed to her side, infinitely relieved to find her still breathing.

Exhaustion and blood loss, he quickly evaluated, carefully lifting her into a sitting position.

The source of the blood was obviously the stab wound in her arm, and he was both impressed and a little sickened to find it stitched up. It wasn’t neat or professional by any means, but it worked. To think that frail little thing had found the grit to stitch herself up…

“Percy!!!”

He’d never heard Therese sound so frightened before. The Head Nurse rushed inside, immediately checking her pulse – but contrarily to him, her expression only darkened.

“Therese—”

“We need to get her an IV and a blood transfusion ASAP,” she instructed quickly, checking Percy’s handiwork, and flinching slightly. “Naomi also told me she got tackled earlier and hit her head, so we need to check her for a potential concussion, too.”

“Therese, she’s okay – exhausted, but okay—”

“She’s not,” snapped Therese. “You wouldn’t know because you couldn’t be bothered to create her a med file when she first got on board, as is protocol, but Percy is… Her body is weak. In every sense of the word. She gets hurt more easily and her healing rate is 87% slower than average.”

Marco’s eyes bulged out at the inane number. “That’s insane. How could anyone survive this long with this kind of physical weakness?”

“Well, she did, somehow. But she won’t for much longer if we don’t get moving!”

Properly chastised and knowing he could figure this whole thing out later, Marco quickly helped Therese pick Percy up so as to carry her to the medbay.

Marco read Percy’s medical file. It should have been his job to create it, but he hadn’t even thought of it, not considering her a part of the crew, and sincerely believing she’d be gone before long. But that had been a mistake, clearly, and now Percy was paying for his negligence.

                  Her body was frail and prone to more extensive injuries. A simple slap on her wrist could either severely bruise it, or even break it. And she took an absurdly long time to heal from all of her injuries as well. And of course, that was without considering the number of scars on her body and other clear indications of past injuries that hadn’t been treated properly or hadn’t healed completely.

                  He knew damn well what some of these scars meant, and he now felt even more terrible. Even if the girl was crazy, even if she had to hang onto delusions in order not to break and completely fall apart… Even if he could only guess what she’d had to endure, he could only say that a bit of insanity was only to be expected as a coping mechanism.

                  It had taken him a long time, but Marco could finally see a little clearer. Percy wasn’t a threat to his brothers or his Captain – she was just a broken girl in need of a home, much like many on their crew, and even if her circumstances were… unorthodox, there had certainly been worse – like Ace, who tried to kill Whitebeard a hundred times before finally agreeing to join.

I’ll need to make it up to her, he finally decided. No matter how it happened, she’s here, now, and she obviously needs help.

“Leave.”

“Percy—”

“I don’t need your pity, Marco the Phoenix,” she spat, though her venom was muffled by the sheet under which she was hiding. “I don’t care what Therese told you or what you think you have figured out about me – I don’t need your pity, and I certainly don’t need your help.”

“It’s not like that—”

“You’ve been distant at best, cruel at worse. You’re only acting nice now because you feel bad about leaving me to fend for myself when I got hurt, and your little pride as a doctor got wounded.” He flinched, both from her accurate accusation and the dark looks the nurses around shot him. “I’ve no need or care for professional help. If you want to believe I’m crazy, then that’s your issue, not mine. Now leave.”

He tried to protest once more, but a single look from Therese shut him up. Frowning, Marco excused himself without another word, only letting out a heavy sigh once the door closed behind him, exhausted. He hadn’t expected the usually subdued girl to snap, for one. And, well, he hadn’t expected her words to sting that much, though he supposed he deserved that. But he’d obviously gone about this the wrong way, and now he didn’t know what to do.

“Oh, Marco! How’s the little fairy doing?” suddenly called out Thatch, coming his way.

“Little fairy?” he echoed, a bit confused.

“You know, Percy.”

“How do you know Percy?”

Thatch quirked a brow. “We hang out every other night, and she helps in the kitchens a lot. Haven’t you noticed?”

Marco mutely shook his head before walking away. A bit puzzled, Thatch watched him go, then shrugged and headed inside, carrying a tray of sweets for all of the nurses – but the extra chocolate chips cookies were definitely for Percy.

Percy froze when, upon entering the kitchen, she was met with a literal smokescreen. Coughing as she quickly made her way to the back, she was surprised to find Thatch arguing with none other than Marco.

“I told you to lower the heat and leave them in for an hour—”

“But if I double the heat, I can cut that time in half – it’s basic math!”

Percy was torn between laughing, being horrified, or being angry, still. She was both intimated by Marco and angered by his two-faced attitude. But before she could turn around to leave, Thatch noticed her and waved with a grin.

“Hey, little fairy!”

“I- I’ll leave you two—”

“Nonsense, come here and help me knock some sense in that dumbass!” urged Thatch, waving her over while Marco’s scowl deepened. “He may be a doctor, but his big brain just can’t process basic cooking.”

“Oi.”

“What- what were you trying to make…?” she asked, unsure of what the scrambled, burnt mess on the tray was meant to be.

“Cookies!” grinned Thatch. “He wanted to make them for you!”

Marco instantly flushed, shooting him a glare. “Don’t tell her that!”

Percy instantly tensed. “I already told you—”

“It’s not like that!” groaned Marco, rubbing his face. “Look, it’s not… I just wanted to apologize, okay? What happened aside, I’ve been a jerk to you ever since you got here, and I’m sorry about it, okay? But those damn cookies just won’t bake right, and—”

“Your hand!”

Her mellowing anger was swiftly pushed aside as she only then noticed the light burns on his hands. Uncaring of his protests, she grabbed him by the arm and promptly dragged him to the nearest tap. Of course, he was much stronger, but he let her manhandle him and didn’t even flinch when she started pouring cold water on his burns.

Oh, right. He probably didn’t even feel those, did he? I feel a bit silly, now… Seriously, this world's healing rate is way beyond my understanding...

“… thanks,” Marco said, now a bit awkward.

She felt even sillier when she noticed that they already looked halfway healed – a couple more minutes and they’d be gone. Still, she kept at it – just because it healed faster didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, right? It’d help settle her nerves, at the very least. And Marco let her, probably understanding her mild freak out better than Thatch.

“… I’m really sorry, Percy,” he finally said, a bit more subdued. “For being a jerk, and then treating you like…”

“Like a psychological experiment meant for you to assuage your guilt?”

“… that, yeah.”

They stayed silent for a moment, before Percy let out a small sigh and finally dared to look up to meet his eyes. Now that he looked like a kicked puppy, he didn’t seem as intimidating, and she felt some of the pressure building inside of her release. She ended up offering him a small smile and extending her hand.

“Okay. Let’s start over, then: hi, I’m Percy.”

He let out a startled laugh before firmly shaking her hand. “Hi, I’m Marco.”

Thatch, still there, scratched his head with clear confusion. “I feel like I missed something.”

Chapter Text

Percy was… unexpectedly happy.

                  She’d developed a brand new routine, one that now involved actively assisting Marco and the nurses in the medbay, doing a few shifts a week helping the cooks in the kitchens, and also learning the basics of sailing out on the deck.

At this point, pretty much everyone on the Moby Dick knew she existed and had taken to calling her “Marco’s Duckling”, since she was always following the man around to learn everything she could. It was a bit embarrassing, but Marco only found it amusing – though he laughed a lot less when some started calling him “Mama Marco”. She’d also started taking some vitamins he created in an attempt to strengthen her body. While it wasn’t a fix-it miracle cure, it still made a definitive difference. She’d also ended up giving in and agreeing to a set schedule for eating and sleeping – nothing too constrictive, but enough that she wouldn’t outright kill herself.

.

“I know you don’t want to talk about what happened but let me just say this: he’s not there anymore, Percy. Whoever hurt you before cannot hurt you anymore. But you’re still living as if you were going to die tomorrow, and I can’t allow that. Everyone is worried about you. And I know it’s difficult to accept, but you really are free now, Percy. Don’t you at least want the opportunity to make the most of that freedom?”

.

It had been a difficult discussion and she’d remained tight-lipped about her origins, letting Marco and Therese assume whatever they wanted to assume – not that they were that far off the mark, anyway. But she’d eventually realized that Marco was right and that she needed to make the most of this second chance she’d been given.

                  So, she started working on it. On herself.

                  Small steps, but she’d get there, eventually.

They were ashore again, and Percy soon found herself in a bar with a few of the nurses and a couple of the men she’d gotten close to. While she always stayed a bit quieter when going out in big groups, she still enjoyed everyone’s energy and spending time together. She also kept an eye out for everyone, making sure no one got hurt.

                  She volunteered to go order more drinks but, on the way, she couldn’t help but notice how the bar seemed more crowded than when they first arrived. It took her a moment to notice the cheerful shouts and the welcoming hugs going around, belatedly realizing that another of Whitebeard’s Divisions had joined them while ashore.

Well, things are bound to get noisier with another Commander around…

On her way back to her table, she noticed a small group with a familiar, masked face, but she couldn’t quite place him. Still, she knew him to be on Whitebeard’s crew, if only for a few of the tattoos on the others surrounding him, and that’s why she stopped in her tracks when she noticed what was going on.

He’s getting scammed, she realized, noticing the cards hidden in another man’s pockets.

She acted a bit impulsively. Moving closer, she loudly hit her foot on the leg of a nearby chair and let out a small cry as she stumbled forward, dropping the few mugs she’d been carrying right on the cheater before falling on the floor. The man let out a startled shout, then a bunch of colorful curses as he realized what had happened.

                  With a small groan, Percy pushed herself back to her feet and bowed.

“I’m so sorry, sir—”

“You bitch! Can’t you watch where you’re going!?”

That was the wrong thing to say. Had it been any other place, had it been just a few months before, Percy would have been scared shitless of a man twice her size now towering over her and shouting in her face – but they were currently in a bar surrounded by her allies, and she was quite surprised to realize she felt very, very safe.

“Hey, asshole! Don’t talk to Percy like that!” immediately snapped Davina, yelling from the other side of the room as she jumped to her feet. “She apologized already!”

“Why you—”

“Hey! Look at his cards!” suddenly exclaimed one of Whitebeard’s men, gawking at the cards the man had dropped on the table. “They’re changing numbers!”

As the man’s scamming attempt was uncovered, he immediately redirected his attention to his fellow players, and Percy used that opportunity to slip away before she could get caught in the brawl that was undoubtedly about to go down. Before she could try to make her way back to her table, though, her path was cut off by a body being thrown across the room – and then, absolute pandemonium took over as everyone started fighting. Percy backed away with a small wince, sticking to a corner.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” mused an unfamiliar voice.

“I didn’t think it’d devolve so dramatically,” she sweatdroped. “I…”

She trailed off as she only then noticed whom she was speaking to – Portgas D. Ace, 2^nd Division Commander of the Whitebeard Fleet. When he noticed her look, he tipped his hat and offered a small grin.

“Thanks for looking out for my guys,” he said. “They’re a good bunch, but they get scammed every time we go ashore.”

“S- sure thing. I just hope no one gets hurt…”

“Nah, they can handle a bar fight just fine. I’m Portgas D. Ace, by the way. Are you a new nurse on Pops’ ship?”

“Something like that. I’m Percy.”

They briefly shook hands, and Ace was about to say something, before his eyes widened and he instinctively turned into fire. The chair thrown their way immediately phased right through him, which meant it smacked Percy right in the face.

                  Darkness instantly consumed her.

“—gets knocked out from a single blow, anyway?”

“Ace, Percy is a bit… fragile, so—”

“You should have been a gentleman and taken the hit! You’d have barely felt it anyway, you jerk! And after she helped your guys out, too!”

“I didn’t mean to! I just reacted!”

Percy let out a soft groan, her head throbbing slightly as she finally came to. The voices around her quieted as she blinked her eyes open, not all too surprised to find herself back aboard the Moby Dick. Marco was there, as well as Davina and, unexpectedly, Ace.

“Here, sweetie, let me help you up,” immediately said the nurse.

“What happened?” asked Percy, flinching when her fingers brushed against the bandage wrapped around her head.

“You got hit in the head with a chair,” answered helpfully Marco.

“It was Ace’s fault!” huffed Davina.

Ace scowled lightly, but he also seemed to be feeling pretty bad. Percy was quick to shake her head.

“No, it’s not. Technically, the fight started because of me. It’s my own fault.”

“And we’re going to have a talk about that later, because that was unnecessarily reckless,” scowled Marco.

“Yes, mother—ow, ow, ow, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

As Marco started mercilessly pulling her cheeks, with Davina just laughing in the background, Ace watched with a slightly puzzled, yet amused expression.

                  It looked like his Pops had picked up another interesting person for his crew.

Percy didn’t really realize what Ace being there implied until she went out on deck and almost immediately stumbled upon Marshall D. Teach, laughing as he shared some booze with a couple other men. She immediately returned inside, practically running – she had no idea where, she just knew she needed to get away. In her panic, she almost ran Marco over, but he caught her just before she could take a serious tumble down the stairs.

“Percy! Percy, what’s wrong?”

“He’s here,” she managed to gasp out, trembling as Marco grabbed her shoulders to steady her, clearly worried. “He’s here, Marco! Why is he here!?”

“Who?”

“Teach!!!”

It took him a second to remember how, exactly, she’d come be a guest onto their ship in the first place. He was half-tempted to get angry on his brothers’ behalf, but the sheer, genuine terror carved into her face couldn’t be faked.

                  She sincerely believed Teach to be a monster.

“… I’ll keep an eye on him,” he settled for saying, and it was the right thing to say, seeing as her breathing grew a little less erratic. “And he won’t be around much. We’ll be traveling with the 2^nd Division for a few weeks, but he’ll stick to his ship for the most part.”

“You need to watch him,” she insisted.

“I will.”

“You need to.”

He’d never seen her so scared, not even when she faced Whitebeard all those months ago. As he kept on promising to keep an eye on Teach, he carefully guided her back to her room, handing her over to Mary, who looked worried, but immediately understood that now wasn’t the time for questions and quickly went to tuck her in.

                  No matter what Marco believed, Percy was clearly convinced that Teach would do something absolutely terrible, and her reaction admittedly made him uneasy.

Percy spent the next few days in her cabin, too scared to step a single foot outside. Though worried about her, none of the nurses managed to make her talk, and Marco eventually instructed them to simply keep an eye on her.

                  She stayed in bed for the most part, flinching every time a noise a bit louder than the rest reached her. She barely spoke to anyone, she was pale all the time, and she clearly couldn’t sleep, either.

                  Teach was here.

He’s going to hurt Thatch, was all she could think about. I can’t let him hurt Thatch…!

After three days, she finally cracked. Late in the night, while no one was paying attention, she quickly found her way to the kitchen. If Marco and Whitebeard weren’t going to warn Thatch, then she would. He might not believe her but, the moment he found that damned fruit, he’d have no choice but at least give her warning the benefit of the doubt, and maybe—hopefully—that’d be enough to save his life.

                  As she entered the empty mess hall, she was relieved to find Thatch sitting on his own at one of the tables.

“Oh, Percy!” he greeted with his usual smile. “Marco told me you’d been feeling a bit under the weather, but he wouldn’t let me come check up on you, that jerk!”

“I’m okay. Look, Thatch, I...” she assured, twisting her hands nervously. She then froze upon noticing what he was holding. “What’s that?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s a Devil Fruit! You’ve never seen one before, have you?”

No no no no no no no no no—

“I found it earlier this morning, while we were resupplying,” he continued, completely unaware of the sheer, unadulterated terror now paralyzing her. “It’s basically a fruit that gives you special powers, though I don’t know which one it is. However! It also takes away your ability to swim, and you become incredibly weak to seawater. Kind of ironic for pirates, huh? Pops has one, and so do Marco and Ace and a couple of the other Commanders, but I’m not entirely sure about eating it—”

She wasn’t even listening, Thatch’s voice drowned out by the wild beating of her heart and the blood pumping in her ears.

                  There was movement in the shadows, and Percy moved without thinking.

                  Pain exploded in her stomach as Teach’s blades stabbed right through.

“What—Percy!!!”

With a single swing of his free hand, Teach hit a stunned Thatch in the face and sent him flying through the nearest wall. Blood splattered on Percy’s face, and she paled upon noticing the bladed claws he was wearing over his knuckles.

I’ve got four blades through my stomach, she thought, a bit lightheaded.

“You uppity bitch,” bit out Teach, twisting his blades and making her cry out in pain. “You’re the one who warned them, didn’t you? I had a hard enough time slipping past the guys they put on me – and now you interfere, too!?”

“I won’t- I won’t let you hurt him,” she bit out, tears running down her face.

“Zehahaha! You won’t let me?” he echoed, roughly pulling his blades out and grabbing her by the throat instead. “You’re going to watch me kill him. And then I’m going to kill you, too.”

He threw her like a ragdoll, and she landed on the nearest table, which broke upon the impact. She could feel splinters digging through the skin of her back, and she could hardly move, blinded by the burning pain in her stomach, but she could still see him slowly walking toward the wall through which he’d thrown Thatch, obviously determined to finish the job, and an intense swirl of fear, panic and sheer anger washed over her.

“Don’t touch him,” she bit out, crawling through the wooden shards. “Don’t touch him!”

Teach laughed, lifting his blades, and Percy saw red.

“DON’T TOUCH HIM!!!”

An unexpected surge of power exploded from her, the air rippling and crackling with it, and Teach was hit head-on. He stiffened, his eyes rolling in the back of his head before collapsing with a dull ‘THUD’ to the ground.

Absolutely no one expected a powerful, intense surge of Conqueror Haki to abruptly wash over the entire ship and even beyond it. Some of the men too close to the source were promptly knocked out, and even Ace shuddered when he felt it, his counsciousness briefly faltering before he regained his senses.

                  He immediately rushed to the source, worried and wary. For someone to unlock that kind of rare power must have meant they were in dire straits.

                  He arrived in the mess hall, immediately finding absolute chaos. A couple of tables had been destroyed, Thatch’s unconscious body was being pulled from the rubbles of a nearby wall with blood all over his face, Teach was also out and getting tied up, and Marco was further inside the room, kneeling beside someone’s prone form and barking orders to the two nurses beside him. As he approached, he felt his stomach drop when he realized it was Percy. She was bleeding profusely, with severe stab wounds to the stomach and a couple of broken bones as well, if the weird angle of her arms was anything to go by. And, as everyone around him moved quickly, only one thought formed in his mind:

What the actual fuck is going on?

Chapter Text

“And you never saw fit to tell me? To tell any of us!?”

“How were we meant to take her word for it? Damn it, she said one of our own would kill him! Don’t try and make me believe you wouldn’t have been angry, too!”

Ace clenched his fists. “Even if you didn’t believe her at first, the mere fact that Thatch did find that damned fruit should have made you suspicious!”

“It did! That’s why I had my men keep an eye on Teach!”

“Oh, yeah, ‘cause that worked out just fine, didn’t it!?”

“Enough,” snapped Whitebeard, his voice booming a bit. “Ace, you’re right: we should have at least told you and Thatch, what with Teach being from your Division, and Thatch’s life being at stake. But Marco acted to the best of his ability within the given circumstances and, most importantly, he acted upon my orders. If you wish to blame anyone, then blame me.” Ace tsked, but didn’t say anything else, and Whitebeard turned to Marco. “How are they?”

“Thatch is fine. Well, he’s complaining about his ‘beautiful face being ruined’, because his wounds are definitely going to scar, but he’s obviously lucky he got away with only that,” sighed Marco, rubbing his temples. “But Percy… Honestly, I don’t know if she’s going to make it, Pops.”

All anger immediately left Ace’s body, leaving place to a void of helplessness. “You can’t be serious…”

“This kind of wound would have been touch-and-go for anyone, but the fact of the matter is that she can’t heal fast enough. And if she doesn’t wake up in the next few days, chances are that she- she won’t wake up at all.”

Whitebeard closed his eyes, letting the news sink in. “… I see. Do everything you can to save her, Marco. Spare no expenses or effort. We can’t make up for our mistakes, but we at least owe her that much.”

To say the mood aboard the Moby Dick and the other ships of the fleet was somber would be an understatement. With Whitebeard ordering for the rest of his Commanders to assemble at once in order to clarify the details of the incident, whispers were bound to go around and, considering the magnitude of the incident, it didn’t long until rumors grew too wild to control.

                  Thankfully, the missing Commanders returned in record time and, soon enough, Whitebeard’s fleet was complete once more. All of the Commanders gathered in the Captain’s quarters, where a snail had been connected to the rest of the ships so everyone could be briefed at the same time.

“So? What happened?” asked Izou.

“Yeah! Why is everyone looking so grim?” added Haruta.

“Two days ago, a terrible incident took place on the Moby Dick,” announced Whitebeard, his voice echoing distantly from the other ships outside. “Marshall D. Teach, a member of the 2^nd Division, attempted to murder Thatch in order to steal a Devil Fruit he’d found.”

Ice immediately settled in everyone’s hearts and bones. A betrayal of such magnitude was practically unheard of for the Whitebeard Pirates, and they could all hear the shouts of horror from the other ships already. They were all brothers after all, and everyone knew everyone to an extent. Teach, despite not being a Commander, was a particularly prominent member of their crew.

“Is- is Thatch okay?” asked Haruta, now nervous.

“Thatch is alright,” he assured, much to everyone’s relief. “His savior, however, is not.”

“Savior?” repeated Izou, quirking a brow.

“Her name is Percy. She’s been a guest aboard the Moby Dick for a few months due to… extenuating circumstances,” Whitebeard simply said. “She was severely injured by Teach and, as of now, it is still uncertain whether she’ll live or not.”

This time, the loudest commotion came from the outer deck of the Moby Dick, where the people who actually knew her finally learned of her actual state. The other Commanders exchanged unsure glances. None of them had ever met the girl, but it was obvious the residents of the main ship as well as their Captain held her in high esteem.

                  But… she’d saved their brother’s life and may very well lose her own for it.

                  She was one of them, now, which meant they’d do everything in their power to save her.

The Commanders alone were later caught up on the previously mentioned “circumstances” that led to Percy joining them. The reactions had been varied and there was a lot of disbelief but, ultimately, the current circumstances spoke for themselves. Somehow, she’d seen the future, and she’d obviously done everything she could to help, despite obviously not gaining anything from it.

                  The atmosphere amidst the fleet was uncharacteristically quiet and grim as everyone anxiously waited for further development, but it was only on the dawn of the fifth day that one of the nurses, disheveled and obviously exhausted, ran out on the deck with a wide grin on her face.

“She’s awake! Percy’s awake!!!”

Percy lightly pressed down on her bandaged stomach. She couldn’t feel anything thanks to the painkillers she’d been administered, but she could still remember how painful it had been. She could hardly believe she was alive at all, quite frankly.

Maybe Marco’s vitamins did better than I thought, after all…

“Are you sure you’re up for this, sweetie?” asked gently Therese.

“Mmm. I’d rather get this over with.”

“Alright. But the moment you want to stop, give me a sign and I’ll bring you right back to bed so you can get more rest, alright?”

“Thank you.”

She’d been transferred to a wheelchair and the Head Nurse was now carefully pushing her in direction of the Captain’s quarters, where he and all of the Commanders were waiting so they could hear her side of the story. She also knew that Thatch was alright, though his face now sported scars similar to Shanks’, and that Teach was held in the brig somewhere, under constant and heavy surveillance.

                  This meeting was but a formality. Marco had already warned her that Whitebeard wanted her to pass on appropriate judgement for Teach’s crime.

“Alright, here we go. Ready?”

Percy simply nodded, and Therese pushed the door open before guiding her inside. She couldn’t help but fold a bit upon herself as she immediately felt the inquisitive gazes of the unknown Commanders digging into her. A table had been momentarily set up, and she was brought right at the end of it, to face Whitebeard properly. After a moment of awkward silence, she hesitantly lifted her hand.

“Err, hi?”

A few chuckles echoed around, breaking some of the budding tension, and Whitebeard allowed a small smile to grace his lips.

“Hello, Percy. It’s a relief to see you awake. How do you feel?”

“… like a shish kebab, I guess.” More chuckles, and she hesitantly looked up to take a look around. Familiar faces for the most part, but she couldn’t name all of them. “I- I’m fine overall, though. But Marco won’t let me out of the wheelchair.”

“So you can reopen your wounds? No thanks,” scoffed the doctor.

“Wow, Mama Marco right out in the open,” teased Haruta.

“Why you—”

“No squabbling.” The atmosphere immediately became a little more serious. “Percy, I understand you’re still recovering, but we need to know what, exactly, happened. I’ve already told everyone here of what brought you to this crew, so speak freely.”

“… I was nervous. Terrified, rather. Knowing Teach was around I- I couldn’t…” It was more difficult to find the words than she expected. “I was worried, so I ended up going to look for Thatch. I was planning on warning him. But when I got there, I realized that he’d- he’d already found the damned fruit, and I knew—I just knew…”

“You knew it would happen,” supplied Ace, a tad hollowly.

“I saw something move and I just—reacted? Everything’s a bit of a blur,” she admitted, lowering her eyes to glance toward her arm, stuck in a cast. “He was going to kill Thatch. So I- I don’t really know what happened, but something suddenly knocked him unconscious? I’m pretty sure I passed out soon after.”

“Percy, I believe you’re the one who knocked Teach out,” replied Marco.

She looked up at him, puzzled. “How?”

“Do you know what Conqueror Haki is?”

She paused to answer, then stopped herself, her eyes going a little wide. It certainly made sense but, then again, it really didn’t. How could someone like her have the rarest type of Haki?

“… not even opening that can of worms just yet,” she muttered, shaking her head. “But however it happened, Teach was stopped, and everyone’s okay, so that’s what matters. What are you going to do with him?”

“I decided to let you decide his fate,” announced Whitebeard. “Ultimately, you are the one who paid the price for our mistakes. As such, I believe it is only fair you saw them corrected as you see fit.”

She hesitated, then asked. “And if I say I want him dead?”

“We all do,” huffed Ace. “And he will die. Pops is just asking how you want it to happen.”

“Just kill him,” she replied, gulping a bit as she clenched her fist. “Don’t make a show out of it. Just execute him and burn his body.”

Jozu quirked a brow. “A proper funeral for a traitor?”

“Not exactly. But I won’t be able to rest until I’ve seen him gone for myself. If we merely throw his body in the sea, there’ll always be a part of me that’ll wonder if he’ll come back,” she admitted.

“We’ll dock at the nearest island,” decided Whitebeard. “Only those of us present here will go. Teach will be executed for his crimes, his body burned as requested, and we shall leave his remains without a grave, to feed the local wilderness. Agreed?”

Everyone spoke up with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Unexpectedly, most of them had seemed to want a little more pain to be involved, but Percy certainly didn’t have the stomach for torture and, most importantly, she’d read too many books to fall for the obvious plot trap – if they grew too cocky and let it last long enough, he’d undoubtedly find a mean to escape, and she couldn’t let that happen. As the meeting was finalized, Ace immediately came to stand beside her, his head low with shame.

“Percy, I’m sorry—”

“No.” He looked positively crestfallen, but she didn’t give him time to let it go to his head. “You have nothing to apologize for, so don’t.”

“But Teach was a member of my Division—”

“So? You can’t be held responsible for a crime you didn’t commit. And how could you have possibly known, anyway?” She shook her head, offering him a smile. “Don’t blame yourself, Ace. Everything turned out just fine, didn’t it? And Thatch is safe, now!”

“And you.”

“Me?”

“We were just as worried about you,” he huffed, lightly poking her forehead.

“Oh… Well, I’m okay, now.” She lifted her arm, flexing her non-existent muscles. “See? I’m made of sturdy stuff!”

That startled a laugh out of him. “That you are, pipsqueak—that you are.”

They did as Whitebeard ordered. They stopped at the next island, and all of the Commanders headed straight inside the jungle, with Teach being unceremoniously dragged by two of them. Ace was carrying Percy, since her wheelchair couldn’t follow, and they all soon found a secluded enough spot to carry out Teach’s execution.

                  There was no fanfare, no grand speech. Uncaring of Teach’s curses, pleads and oaths, the Commanders stared him down while Whitebeard took position and, with a single swing of his battle axe, he chopped his head right off. Percy flinched but forced herself not to look away as his remains were promptly thrown into a nearby pit, to which Ace promptly set fire.

                  And just like that, Marshall D. Teach died, unloved by the Fate he oh-so-sought after, and ultimately forgotten by the History he’d imagined himself rewriting.

“Here.”

Percy’s eyes widened as Thatch offered her the small chest inside which the Dark-Dark Fruit laid. Before she could try to protest, though, he lifted his hand, stopping her.

“I want you to have it,” he said firmly. “Not only as thanks for saving my life, but also because I think it could help you.”

“Help me?”

“Keep you safe, I mean. Since you obviously can’t take a hit, might as well learn to avoid them, right?” he replied, smiling lightly. “I did my research. This is a really powerful Logia. If you eat it, hopefully, it’ll help keep you safe in case we’re not around.”

“Still, it’s worth a lot of money… And you could get even stronger—”

“I don’t need to get stronger. And if you decide not to eat it, then I won’t take it back,” he warned. “You can just sell it and keep the money. But I really think this could be a good opportunity for you. I think this power could really suit you.”

“It’s the power of darkness,” she protested. “It’s considered the evilest power out there!”

“And you are the kindest, most selfless person I know,” he replied firmly, and she felt tears building up in her eyes at his earnest expression. “If I had to trust anyone with that kind of power, if there was one single person in the world who wouldn’t get corrupted by it, it’s most definitely you.”

“Thatch…”

“Just think about it,” he concluded, smiling from ear to ear. Even with his face slightly deformed by the scars, he was still very handsome. “I trust you.”

“… okay. Thank you, Thatch,” she finally gave in, sniffling a bit.

"I should really be the one saying that. You saved my life, Percy. Thank you."

It took Percy over a month before she could stop using the wheelchair and start moving on her own again. During that time, she got to know the other Commanders, and she also seriously thought over Thatch’s gift.

                  She’d also gathered everyone again at some point, and came clean about her origins – or at least, part of it. She remained tight-lipped about her own story, but admitted to being from another world, and how she came to acquire knowledge of the future. Thankfully, though a little stunned, they were now much more inclined to believe her, and it certainly explained many of the things she did or said, too.

                  And with that particular burden released from her shoulders came the realization that Marco had been right, all those weeks ago: she needed to make the most of this second chance she’d been given. She was now in an incredibly vast world, accepted in the ranks of an amazing crew with an amazing Captain, and she could just… start over.

“So? Finally made up your mind?”

Percy stopped staring at the Devil Fruit in her hands to glance to Ace. She offered him a smile and patted the empty space beside her, and he came to sit with a curious look.

“… It’s been a rough few years for me,” she finally admitted. “I’m still having a bit of a hard time accepting that things can finally turn out right for me, you know?”

His expression softened. “I do. It kind of feels like a dream, doesn’t it?”

“It does. But… I really don’t want that dream to end,” she whispered.

“It won’t,” he simply promised. “You’re one of us, now. All you need to worry about is doing whatever you want to do.”

Whatever I want to do… I really am free, now.

And she took a bite… though she almost threw it right up.

“Ugh! Nasty!”

Ace simply laughed.

Chapter Text

“The numbers are wrong.”

“What?”

Percy flushed a bit, not having meant to say it out loud. Thankfully, Namur didn’t appear angry that she’d been looking over his shoulder at the documents on his desk – if anything, he appeared curious.

“The- the numbers. They’re wrong,” she repeated, clearing her throat a bit as she pointed to the second line. “The expenses on the last reparations don’t add up to the total indicated, see? You’re missing three hundred berries.”

“What—how did I not see that?” He immediately splayed out a few more documents for her to look over. “Can you spot other mistakes?”

“There, there, there, there, and there,” she answered quickly, pointing them out. “And there are a few other things that bug me – I could probably figure it out given enough time… I- I mean, if you’d like me to help you out. I know you’re overwhelmed with paperwork and all.”

“By all means.”

He now appeared genuinely intrigued and rose from his seat to let her take his place. She did so a bit hesitantly but, the moment she started focusing on the numbers before her, she completely tuned out everything else and fell into a distant, yet familiar haze.

Well, I suppose I didn’t completely lose my touch despite the last couple of years…

It took her about an hour to read through all the documents, and then another to really start working through the mistakes she’d spotted. And then one thing led to another and, before she knew it, she got through the entire pile, and it was starting to get dark outside. Namur had left a while ago, probably to go eat, so she gathered all of the documents in sorted, neat little piles that would make it easy for the Commander to go through them the next morning and follow up on her corrections.

                  Satisfied, Percy left to go grab some food herself.

The next morning found an almost-weeping Namur on his knees before her.

“You’re an angel. For the first time in forever, I’m free of paperwork! Whatever you want on the next island, you get – my treat!”

“I- I’m just glad I could help,” she protested, a bit flustered by his reaction.

“Help? You did the entire job by yourself – what would have taken me a whole week took you barely an afternoon! You’re a literal godsend, I say!”

“I mean, it’s just numbers…” She offered him a small smile. “I’ll be happy to help you out again if you need me. I really like this kind of work.”

That was both the right and the wrong thing to say for barely a few hours later, none other than Haruta showed up with a stack of papers, a bit embarrassed as he asked for her help to sort it all out. She was more than happy to but, the next day, it was Curiel’s turn to show up with his own paperwork. Next thing she knew, she was working non-stop helping out almost all of the Commanders with their respective divisions’ expense logs and other varied paperwork. Word didn’t seem to get around to Thatch and Marco, and Ace and his Division had left a few days prior and wouldn’t be back for a few more weeks.

It was fulfilling and admittedly satisfying to finally be able to pull her weight around here. She quite enjoyed helping out the nurses, sure, but she’d always had a knack and passion for numbers, and she’d even entertained the thought of pursuing higher studies in the field before…

                  Well.

                  However, having now found her niche, the workload kept on growing, and she was beginning to worry she might not be able to keep up with the demand. She was spread thin, so she began to forgo meals and rest in order to complete more work.

I can’t let them down, she reasoned as she worked late in the night, her eyes burning from the lack of sleep and the faint lighting of the oil lamp. There’s finally something I can do to actually help around here. I need to do my part, too!

“Watcha doing, little fairy?”

“Hmm? Oh, just looking at the stars. I know all of the constellations, but the names don’t match the ones I know.”

Percy hadn’t told anyone other than Whitebeard and Marco of her true origins—of being from another world entirely. It was behind her, now, and it wouldn’t do anything other than complicate things more than they needed to be.

                  (They’d been relieved to find that her knowledge of the future wasn’t absolute, though the pill of there being another world had been a bit hard to swallow for Marco.)

“What do you mean?” asked curiously Thatch, coming to sit beside her.

She smiled, pointing at the constellation in the book on her lap. “Well, that one is called the Dancer, right? Because it looks like a man dancing.”

“Right. But that’s not the name you know?”

“No, where I come from, we call it Hercules.”

Thatch tilted his head, curious. “That sounds like a weird name. Why is called that?”

“Well, Hercules is the name of a mythical hero. You see, he was the son of the King of Gods, Zeus, but he was cursed to live a mortal life. In order to regain his lost divinity, he had to undertake twelve trials…”

Something was bound to snap at some point – she should have seen it coming, really.

“Bryn, sweetheart? Are you alright? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine, Mary!” she immediately assured.

She wasn’t. Her head was pounding, and she felt like throwing up, but she couldn’t let a little cold slow her roll. She was almost done with this week’s paperwork load – the moment she was, she would finally be able to call it a day and go back to bed.

“Are you sure? You don’t look so well. Let me check.”

“Mary, I’m fine—”

The nurse ignored her protests and placed the back of her hand against Percy’s forehead – only to hiss and quickly pull it away, her eyes immediately going wide with worry.

“You’re burning up!”

“It’s nothing serious—”

Without warning, the boat suddenly lurched. It happened from time to time – despite its size, the Moby Dick sometimes ran into waves or currents strong enough to sway it. It had taken a while for Percy to develop some proper sea legs and she’d grown fairly good at keeping her balance on a rocking ship.

                  Unfortunately, she was in too poor a state to catch her fall this time around.

“Percy!!!”

Pain exploded in the side of her head, and everything instantly went black.

Ace’s Division had returned, but the usual celebrations usually thrown whenever a Division returned to the fleet had to be held off, because all of the Division Commanders were now gathered in Whitebeard’s quarters. The summon had been vague, but urgent, so they’d all quickly abandoned whatever they were doing to gather. But upon coming in, they found none other than Therese, the Head Nurse, along with one another of the nurses, Mary, standing beside their Captain, who sported a scarily blank face.

“So… What’s going on, Pops?” hesitantly asked Curiel.

“… it has been brought to my attention that, in the past few weeks, every single one of you, bar Marco, Thatch, and Ace, has delegated your administration workload to Percy.”

They all stiffened. Was their Captain angry because they were skirting their duties?

“Wait—is that why you guys have been gloating about having so much free time lately?” gasped Thatch. “Because you gave it all to Percy!?”

“She volunteered to help,” instantly protested Kingdew.

“Because she doesn’t know how to say no,” instantly retorted Ace. “All of you, really? Even you, Vista? Izou?”

The two of them flinched a bit upon being called out. They were known as being some of the most diligent about their paperwork.

“As it is, Percy overworked herself in her attempt to help you all out,” stepped in Therese – she looked angry, but Mary seemed downright pissed. “She collapsed about an hour ago and hit her head pretty badly.”

They all stiffened, now worried.

“Is she alright?” immediately asked Marco, wide-eyed.

“She’s not in immediate danger, if that is what you mean. But she’s nursing a serious fever, and she has yet to wake up. We’ve also noted the early symptoms of malnourishment – she probably started skipping meals in order to complete more work.”

“How could you not see this?” snapped Mary. “You know how exhausted you get when you’re finally done with your own workload – how could you possibly expect her to deal with thirteen times that amount!?”

“We didn’t think—”

“I never imagined—”

“We just figured—”

“Enough,” cut in Whitebeard, slamming his staff on the ground, and making the entire room tremble. “Once Percy has recovered, you will all offer her your sincerest apologies. And I expect you to take care of your own workloads from here on out. And if Percy truly insists on helping out your sorry asses, still, then you will be responsible for her well-being and ensuring she gets back as much as she gives. Understood?”

“YES, CAPTAIN!!!”

“Good. Also, all of you bar Marco, Thatch, and Ace are on cleaning duty for the next three months – and that includes the bathrooms.”

“… yes, Captain.”

“WE’RE SORRY!!!”

Percy paled as almost every single Commander begged for forgiveness on their knees before her.

“It- it’s fine, you don’t have to apologize for anything, you didn’t do anything—”

“They took advantage of your kindness,” cut in Mary, unforgiving.

“But I offered to help – I was happy to!” she protested.

“You also don’t know how to care for yourself, so that’s irrelevant,” retorted Ace, arms crossed over his chest. “You should never prioritize other people’s work over your health. Ever. Got it?”

No, Percy did not get it. Getting sick had been her fault. Why should they place the blame on the other Commanders? But clearly, they wouldn’t be able to see eye to eye on that front and, considering everyone’s reactions, she probably stood alone on that hill. And knowing Marco and Thatch, she’d have a hell of a time if she tried going behind their back about it.

“… I still want to help out,” she finally admitted. “I like doing this kind of work. And it- it makes me feel useful, too. This is something I’m good at, something I can do to pull my weight around here. So I swear I’ll be more careful, but can I keep working? Please?”

All of the Commanders exchanged unsure glances. Their Captain had been very strict in regard to his command, but Percy seemed sincere in her request…

“How about you take up an official position?” then suggested Thatch. “You’re technically a member of Marco’s Division – you can take up the mantle of treasurer and handle his Division’s finances.”

“That sounds fun!” she instantly agreed. “I mean, if Marco’s okay with it…”

“If I’m okay with it?” he repeated, sweatdroping a little. “I think you underestimate just how much we all absolutely loathe paperwork.”

“Oh, I know! Why don’t you guys send me someone from each of your Divisions, and I can show them how I do it! That way, they’ll be able to help you guys out in my stead and it could lessen everyone’s workload!”

“That… sounds great, actually,” blinked Namur, surprised.

“How did we never think of this?” groaned Haruta.

“It sounds like an agreeable solution,” agreed Izou. “But you will be compensated properly for your work.”

“Oh, I don’t need money—”

“Please just say yes – if you do it for free, Pops is going to punt us across the Grand Line,” begged Jozu.

“And I’ll help him!” cheerfully added Mary.

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. “O- okay, whatever floats your boat, I guess. We can figure something out later.”

“Hey, Percy! Thatch said you knew some really cool stories! Why don’t tell one?”

“What? No, I’m a really bad storyteller,” she immediately refused.

“Liar,” coughed Thatch.

“Come on, I don’t wanna go to sleep already!” whined Haruta, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “Please, please, please?”

“I don’t—”

“Per-cy, Per-cy, Per-cy…” Thatch started chanting and, quickly enough, the rest of the men who were still awake were chanting along.

Percy shot a small glare Thatch’s way, who just shrugged and offered her an unapologetic grin. She wasn’t exactly a fan of the spotlight but, seeing as most of her crewmates were already passed out drunk around the campfire, she figured most wouldn’t be lucid enough to notice her awkwardness or even remember any of it come morning.

“Ugh, fine.” She thought it over for a second, half-considering going with Lord of the Rings, but then realized she most definitely did not remember enough to make it into a coherent, compelling retelling. “Alright, I got it. It’s a short one, though!” At their eager grins, she rolled her eyes a bit. She was surrounded by actual children. “Okay, have you ever heard of the story of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp?”

A few months later…

A new routine had developed for Percy. She trained with the nurses, handled the First Division’s finances, taught representatives from the other Divisions how to handle their own finances more efficiently, and now she also hosted a sort of storytelling corner ever week or so. Pirates liked partying but, as it turned out, they also really enjoyed listening to entertaining stories. Who’d have thought, honestly? But the demand was there and Percy admittedly enjoyed plunging back into happier memories of her past to bring old childhood stories to life into this new world.

                  All in all, Percy was happy. She was healing. Life was peaceful—

“Percy! PERCY!!!”

“Ace, what? Why are you shouting so early in the morning?” groaned Percy, letting her head ‘THUNK’ against the table. “I haven’t even finished my coffee yet…”

For only answer, her best friend shoved a paper in her face. She shot him a small glare and laid it out on the table to check it out.

                  It was a poster.

                  It was a bounty poster.

                  It was her bounty poster.

…

…

…

“What.”

“Isn’t this great?” laughed Ace, roughly patting her shoulder. “You got a bounty, and a really good one, too!”

“I- I don’t understand,” she protested, her eyes wide. “How? Why!?”

It truly was her picture and her name on the poster, so there was no denying it, but she genuinely could not fathom how or why she got one. She made a point of staying away from any and all fights, and she rarely ever got involved whenever Marines were around, too. So why—

“Well, remember last week when that Vice-Admiral got in over his head and decided to try and arrest Pops?” recalled Ace, still grinning from ear to ear.

Right, that had been an unexpected surprise. Vice-Admirals weren’t exactly supposed to pick fights with Emperors, but the man had ignored orders from Sengoku himself to come and pick a fight with them.

                  Which was dumb. And which ended with them getting completely crushed.

“What about it? Pops is the one who destroyed the fleet,” she protested.

“He is—but you’re the one who used your powers to save them all from drowning afterward,” he drawled.

“… oh.”

She’d completely forgotten about that part. After Whitebeard completely wiped out the six ships without even getting up from his seat, Percy had felt bad for the Marines panicking aboard the sinking ships—they were just following the orders of a very bad leader, after all. So, she’d mindlessly used her growing abilities with the Dark Dark Fruit to open giant portals and teleport them all to the nearest island.

“They didn’t deserve to die because their Captain was an idiot,” she reasoned.

“I agree,” assured Ace. “But now it’s known that there’s another powerful Logia on Pops’ crew—a bounty was pretty much guaranteed. But hey, you got a cool alias, right?”

WANTED – DEAD OR ALIVE

‘Lady Mercy’ Percy

250,000,000 B

“It sounds dumb.”

“What? No it doesn’t!”

“They only used that because it rhymes!”

“Well, probably. They’re idiots, after all. But still! You officially have the reputation of the nicest pirate in the New World!” chortled Ace.

She stared him down for a moment, then grinned. Before he could do anything, a portal opened underneath his feet, and he fell through with a startled shout. The shout kept on echoing from outside as she kept Ace in a perpetual falling state through various portals.

                  After a few seconds, Marco came in the galley, rubbing his eyes.

“Is there a reason Ace is screaming like a little girl at eight in the morning?”

“PERCYYYY—!”

“He didn’t let me finish my coffee.”

“Ah, fair enough.” Marco paused as he noticed the poster before her. “Huh. Congrats on your new bounty.”

“Thank you.”

She couldn’t help but smile lightly as she glanced back to her poster. She still couldn’t really make sense of it, but she imagined that the discovery of a new Logia on an Emperor’s crew was enough to alarm the World Government, if nothing else.

Lady Mercy, hm…?

I like it.