Out in a clearing of a forest stood a boy, age 16. He had moderately black skin and a start of an afro was growing out from his head. His face was still childish but was starting to show handsomeness on his face. He had white wings coming from his back, betraying his place of origin to the sky islands instead of West-Blue where he was currently. His body build was average but he looked a little malnourished, yet he looked to have big muscles. He was 176 centimeters tall. His brown eyes fit perfectly completing his image of a competent young man.
He was just basking in the sun when he suddenly collapsed and clutched his head that just received a sharp tinge of pain as memories of his past life returned to him.
”Woah...” was the only thing he got out of his mouth as he tried to process his new yet old memories.
”Thank god he didn’t transfer my personality, I couldn’t survive a day in the Grand-Line with that personality. Helping others, pshhh. If I can’t help myself or my family I can’t help any others.”
I sorted my memories while glancing around with my head between my arms as the pain hadn’t fully gone away yet.
”She said that they were going to give me a headstart, but that it was going to be a secret what, how, when or where it will show up.”
Better start heading to ”home”, since I accidentally spent more time than necessary going through and sorting my last life's memories, I bet Sky is already pissed that I come back late, should probably take some flowers with me to pacify her.
I thought that as I started walking towards the same path that I used to get here. When I first started coming here to spend my time there was no path no comfy clearing no nothing. The path came into being with my every day going back and forth and I asked Sky and Jackie to help me clear out this area since they have nothing better to do anyway.
I picked up a few roses from a random villagers garden for Sky on the way back. She was probably reading the devil-fruit catalog as she had been dreaming about getting a devil fruit for herself. She often would sit by the window facing the sea and have this yearning expression on her face.
Past the village, a few kilometers away from the city there is a landfill site, or more commonly known as the ’Endless dunes of garbage’. That is where I’m headed. Well, directly next to it there is a village of shacks made for and by the residents of slums when the city ejected them from their premises a few years back.
It was chaos then. Almost 300 new people were building and or stealing houses to themselves. Murder, theft, arson and all other crimes imaginable were commonplace in new slums of Spritta. Walking through the make shit main road was always scary even though we had bought protection and already paid this month. At the edge of the makeshift village was a moderately large shack that left almost all other shacks to shame. I made my way towards this particular ”house” and when I was reaching for the door it was slammed straight into my face and most importantly the roses that I had prepared for Sky.
”Someone left this for yo..u I’m so sorry are you hurt?!?” Asked Jackie when he opened the door.
Jackie was a 2 and a half meter giant of a 15-year-old. I bet he can still grow even taller. He had a gentle face, blue eyes that almost shone from their malnourished sockets, brown hair that fi his face perfectly yet was a little too long to be comfortable so he kept it as a ponytail most of the time.
”It’s not me who you should be worried about it’s us. When sky hears that the roses I prepared were reduced to this stage by you, she will have your head after mine.” I glanced at the now crushed roses, he caught my glance and followed it, face whitening when he saw the destruction he had caused and the consequences he knew were imminent.
”Well, why were you in such a hurry, what came for me,” I said after brushing some dust and petals off from me.
”Oh yeah!” He said, reaching for the little chest he had dropped, or ”placed to the ground while you weren't looking”. ”This,” he said and just gave me the chest.
”Well, what is it,” I said frowning, knowing no one in our little family was courteous enough not to open anything that came for anyone.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
”We wouldn’t dare to open it, some thief had tried to steal it but his hand was blown to bits when he tried to open it. Neither Sky nor I was here at the time so when Noah saw the thief come in from the broken window, he just hid and watched from afar as he tried to open the box to confirm the presumable profit inside”
”Damn, well, how did you know it was for me then?” I asked while taking my hand off from the lid that I had just almost tried to open.
”The note”, he said and pointed at the piece of paper stuck between the lid and the rest of the box. It clearly stated Mikey/Josef. ”We didn’t know who Mikey was so we thought it was the sender after seeing your name on the note. By the way, we don’t know when or how this appeared at our table, but it wouldn’t be the first time something strange happened around these parts.”
Yes, this was obviously the headstart that they prepared for me as they used both of my names, old and new. I wonder what’s inside, a devil fruit, most likely as it looks big enough for a few fruits to be inside, a weapon, wouldn’t fit a staff in there even if it was ground up, a technique book, could be but maybe like in a miniature form with small text and thin pages.
Whatever it maybe it must wait as I heard my name being called from inside by an sexy yet cold voice ”Josef. Get in here within ten seconds or you will eat less than a dog in the slums” ”But dogs don’t eat or are eaten in the slums” I retorted. ”MY POINT.” I kinda wanted to find out which one she was referring to but her tone left little room for arguments, so I walked inside to face her.
Inside was dirty yet clean, small yet full of stuff. There were bookcases filled with logs, old newspapers and kindling. The table had four chairs around it and each chair was filled with dirty laundry, clean laundry, dirty dishes or clean dishes. I took one clean plate and went to scrape the bottom of a particular kettle for some fish soup. I walked straight past her and ignored her accusatory glare, which infuriated her, yet she did nothing other than try to glare holes to the back of my head.
Finally, I was done taking what was left of the fish soup and sat directly in front of her.
Sky was a beautiful young woman, with blonde long hair looking like a golden river, fiery red eyes and a cute small face. She, like Jackie, is 15 years old. Sky has a petite figure 160 ish centimeters tall, but that is not to say that she isn’t well developed where there is the need to be developed. She is balanced well, I would say.
”Where is Noah?” I asked, focusing all my attention on the meager soup in front of me.
”Sleeping, he had a rough day at the shipyard, Old man Rick had him beat for making a tiny mistake again. We all know Noah’s designs make the most money for him” She sighed and stopped glaring at me, lamenting the fact that she could do nothing to help her little brother.
”He’s still getting beat?” I asked looking up from my soup frowning. ”I should go talk to Rick, this can’t keep happening.” ”NO!” ”Why not!” She yelled and I started increasing my voice to match hers. ”Because every time you go ”talk” you come back bruised, bones broken and bleeding all over the place. On top of that, it never helps!”
”Well, at least I tried to do something. And I never start the fights, they always start it, thinking they can beat me easily.” I grumbled at her with no valid point to be made.
She frowned at my statement and was opening her mouth for a comeback as we heard it.
While we were arguing Jackie had sneaked past us, trying to go into the bedrooms. ”Thump” Is all we heard before he crashed mightily to the ground before the opening bedroom door. From the other side of the door, we hear ”Jackie? I am sorry if you can’t evade a slowly moving door.”
As the door opened it revealed the one behind it to be a more muscular male version of Sky. Short blonde hair, red eyes, handsome face of a 15-year-old teen. He had a well-toned body of a young man who works hard physical labor every day. His face was usually dashing but was currently covered in a sleepy expression that doesn’t compliment it well. Sky and Noah are, against all opinions, twins.
”Is the old married couple act done already? Did they open the box without me?” He said to no one in particular as he stepped to the cluttered living room.
”We are not married!” ”It’s not an act” came from the mouths of me and Sky. It seemed that neither of us wanted to comment on the old part but ill let that slide for now, as I blush at her statement. She blushed too but it is unclear whether she blushed because of her own statement or something else.
”Yeah, let's open the box! I was coming to wake you up but it seems that you were one step ahead of me.”
Under the pressure of three different people, I took out the box from its hiding place in the steep pocket of my pants.
”Here goes nothing,” I said and opened the box, slowly, without losing any hands.
After opening the lid I glanced inside the box after checking that my hands were fine.
What I saw shocked me so much that I pushed my head back up with strong force while yelling.
”They are devil fruits! There are fo OUCH!”
I recoiled my head back down in pain as Jackie recoiled his back up. Caressing his chin which I hit with my head, he said ” Devil fruits?! And there are four of them?! Who can send such rare and expensive gifts to us? To you.” Excitement and suspicion clear in his voice.
”Are there actually devil fruits?” asked Sky and Noah at the same time. Both of the twins had sparkling eyes.
”Yes, and if this gets outside these walls we must get rid of them or be strong enough to own them.”
I said grimly as the others started to remember the wealth that was now sitting in our living room.