Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

Chapter 20– The Cards We Are Dealt.

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"Hey, can you please talk to me?" I ignore those annoying words with ease, instead burying my head in my hands. I feel like pulling the hair out of my head with how frustrated I am, feeling stuck between a rock and a hard place, except there are pitchforks lacing either side.

The memory is pitch clear in my mind. I can remember with crystal clear clarity the moment the idiot that was my previous self picked such a dumb option. And I was stuck with such a shitty condition, one that had a one in a billion chance of actually taking effect since I would have to come in contact with the single female on the entire planet that I would imprint on, and it happened right on the island where I was born. So my luck is pure dogshit. Even if I did have a trait called lucky, it has been bloody nerfed since this occurred.

I recall the exact wording that showed up on the blue screen all that time ago, word for word, exactly as it was delivered.

[Condition Selected. Condition Is Imprinted

Imprinted:

A female in your new world will be chosen upon your birth, and they will be selected as the person you imprint on; of course, you can go your whole life without meeting them, or they can die before you meet them, which will nullify the condition. You can't control when it happens or to who, and it can happen at any age. Imprinting on someone means when you see her, everything will change; you will listen to her every word and not be able to refuse her regardless of how you feel on the inside. You will not be able to harm her, you will be a slave to her every command, and there is nothing you can do about it.]

"Hey, can you tell me your name? Why are you here like I am? Can you also draw maps?" Reviewing it, it seems to be a really bad deal that I got dealt. But seeing it in effect now, it could be a lot worse because, thankfully, the result is not as pronounced as it seems to be stated in the text. Especially given how my, whatever she is, has been pestering me about all sorts of stuff since I retreated away from the door and slumped down against one of the walls.

"Can you shut up already?" I say, turning to glare at the little orange scamp who quickly clammers up under my gaze, and tears threaten to pour from her eyes. I immediately feel bad about it, but the girl, Nami, refuses to let her tears spill and sucks them back up, hurriedly moving away to sit in another corner of the room. I know that I am angry at the situation as a whole, the pirates, the condition enforced upon me... George's death. And I am taking it out on her when she didn't ask for any of this, she is just a ten-year-old girl that has just... lost her mother, and I just shouted at her.

Sighing and feeling like a piece of shit, I look over to see her lightly sniffling with arms wrapped around her legs, her head hanging low to cover her face. I forgot in all this that I am not the only one that has been affected because she has lost Bellemere, her mother. She is just as sad, just as angry and just as messed up as me right now. And she was trying to keep a brave face on to distract herself from her pain, and I just demolished her with my ignorant words.

Standing up, I shake myself out of my hazy fugue of self-pity and despair, and I walk over to sit down near her. She lifts her head up slightly, eyeing me with a single red eye before quickly retreating to the safety of her legs. I stay silent for a moment, thinking things over and wondering how to break the ice.

To be honest, the condition isn't as bad as I thought it was. First of all, Nami had been bugging me for a while, constantly asking me questions, and I had completely ignored her. I even shouted at her and told her to shut up, which I wouldn't think would be possible due to the description of the condition. But I can. I don't feel an obligation to be nice to her or to answer her questions. And I think it is because they are questions. After all, if she were to demand answers, then I would have to give them to her.

I think a lot of this will be based on intention and demand. Since Nami was only asking, then it was up to me whether to answer, whereas if she demanded answers, then I would be forced to give them. I also think it depends on how much she cares and is adamant about the things she says, such as when earlier when I was going to leave. I was simply leaving, and she was scared and told me to stay. It hurt, but I could continue to move forward. And then she demanded to know where I was going, and I told her I was going to kill the fishmen pirates, at which point she was staunch on not letting me leave, and I couldn't.

Essentially this condition can be boiled down to three simple things. First, the things Nami adamantly demands, I can't refuse. Second, I can't hurt her physically, and I assume I will have to protect her from harm. We will wait and see. Finally, I can resist her words depending on how much she wishes to enforce her terms, and it will hurt the more I go against her wishes, but I can.

All in all, not terrible. I can live with this. Still, I am pissed at my past self, he was an asshole, or rather I was. He had picked the traits I have, which I describe as video game traits for some stupid reason, but they are part of who I am. I was born like that. But then I realised he realised there was no point to any of it if he didn't keep his memories when starting a new life, so he selfishly rolled the wheel of conditions, wanting to take a chance to live a new life.

Past me had two options, either deny the wheel of conditions and have his soul move on without his memories, which wouldn't really be him. Or roll the wheel of conditions, and get stuck with a condition but keep his memories without the emotions or attachments, a chance that he would somehow remain and experience the next world. Confronted with these two options, he naturally chose the latter, the one that had a chance of him surviving in some form. And it worked, but not exactly.

It didn't work out like he had planned because all the attachment and emotion were censored from those memories. And while I had those memories, all it really was was knowledge. I remember that life and all the things in it, but I feel no attachment or anything to it. It is merely my past life memories, something that can aid me but not something that defines me.

Thankfully, the drawback is not proving to be that bad at the moment since I can resist the things Nami says but doesn't really mean or care about. The only reason I am severely hating this right now is that I want nothing more than to go out there and chop off all the heads of those fishmen pirate bastards out there and chuck them back into the sea where they should have stayed. However, the only thing Nami is adamant about right now is me not doing that because she thinks I will die, and she doesn't want anyone else to perish.

A nice thought, but ultimately it is stifling me and preventing me from avenging my best friend. But another thing to consider here is that the person I am forced to listen to is currently a vulnerable little ten-year-old girl that has just lost her mother and is being held captive by pirates. It might make me seem like a scum, but she has no one right now, and I am here. So I should take advantage of that and become the dominant one here so I can manipulate her into not forcing her will onto me later down the line.

But this is just as much for her sake as it is for mine. I need to get her on my side. If I can become the dominant one here, and take control, then I can get her to defer to me, and she will not be so adamant about telling me what to do and stuff. Then I can go and take out all of the pirates, freeing the island and herself, so in the end, my being a bastard will benefit her. The only question is, how am I going to do this.

I am not the most social of creatures, what with me living pretty isolated on a beach far from the village. I only really talked to people when I went there for work and never to anyone younger than me. I am used to talking to mature people, people older than me who know what they are doing and have their lives somewhat figured out. However, I have no clue how to talk to a child, especially one that is grieving so much. This could quickly go wrong and end up with her hating me, which would be very bad for my future as she would have some control over it.

"Amarillo Detoro..." I say, answering one of the questions she had been asking me before I stupidly told her to shut up. The words hang in the air for a moment, permeating through the silence, and I see her tilt her head out of the corner of my eye, revealing a single brown pupil that stares at me.

"That's my name, Amarillo Detoro. As for the other stuff you were asking me about, I am not here because I can draw maps like you apparently can. They took me because I am a good builder, a craftsman." I answered her other questions from earlier, well, the only ones I can remember since she asked quite a few while I was freaking out. Apparently, this girl was taken because she can draw maps? I was taken because they saw the house that I had worked on for the last four years, so I wondered how impressive this girl's maps must be for them to also take her.

"...A craftsman?" She says, her head perking up from her hidey-hole. A promising sign, the more I draw her into the conversation, the more she gets to know me and I her.

"Hmm. I am good at building things, mainly out of wood, but I can work with metals and other materials. The fishmen pirates saw the house I had built, and they took me. They want to use my skills like I assume they want to use your map-building skills." I try to relate to her, as well as drop some inkling of my skills and reliability. I built an entire house, after all, that should instil some merit in her eyes. If she can trust me and find me reliable, then maybe she will no longer try to stop me from going and getting vengeance.

"You built an entire house? Why? You are just a kid like me. Didn't your parents help you?" She says, her head entirely retreating from her knees and looking towards me. I stop staring straight ahead and turn to look at her as well. Her eyes are still red, but there are no more tears, just some light sniffling.

"I don't have any parents. I am an orphan that lived at the orphanage, but apparently, I was too rowdy, and the other kids didn't like me and were scared of me for some reason. So Mummy Mee and Daddy Dee moved me to a beach, where there was a little shack for me to live in. Over the last four years, I had transformed that small shack and expanded it massively into a full home with all sorts of functions." I reveal, pulling Nami even more out of her shell. The frown on her face slowly lightens as she seems to realise something, recognition blooming on her face.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Oh, I know those two. They came over sometimes to check on me and Nojiko, my sister... So you built an entire house? It must have been a lot of work to do all that building, way more than just drawing some maps." She says, a bit depressed at the end there, reminded of her situation. I am a bit surprised that she knows Mummy Mee and Daddy Dee, which must mean there were some other factors regarding her household affairs if those two were visiting.

"It was a lot of work, but I had my best friend to help me with it. He did a lot of the heavy lifting since he was so big and strong." Honestly, I don't think my house would be anywhere close to complete if George didn't help me build it. Of course, George didn't even really make anything, but his job was still important, lifting, carrying and handing me things as well as holding things in place so I could secure them. I didn't realise it at the time, but that lazy gorilla would always help me if I asked.

"Best friend? I don't really have one, though I would say my sister Nojiko is my best friend. So what is your best friend like? Where is he?" She questions, trying to distract herself from her own pain and, in the process pulling mine out from where I was trying to forget it.

"George... he died... The fishmen killed him..." I say, the words leaving my mouth with difficulty. Nami doesn't say anything after that, leaving us to stew in the deathly silence, which is even worse. Saying it out loud, telling someone, somehow makes it feel even worse. Before, it was as if it wasn't real because I hadn't talked about it or spoken about it, but now someone other than me knows, and Nami now knows. I can't explain it, but it hurts even more now for some reason.

"...just like Bellemere." I hear her finally say, and I look up to find her staring at me. But she isn't crying or looking like she is pitying me. Instead, there is a look of understanding, not as if she knows the pain I am feeling but as if she knows that I am in pain. Because she is too, probably much more than me, since she lost her mother, and she has never been independent before. I am not lost. I can survive. I don't have any of those doubts and worries, but she is probably full of them, and here she is, locked away in a dingy room, stuck with me.

"That is right. Just like they killed your mother, they killed my best friend. I have no one else now. So, I want to go out a kill them all. Even if they are too strong, even if I am so weak that I can't kill a single one. At least I can injure one of them, making it easier on the rest of the villagers on the island. So let me go. I have no one else waiting for me. I have nothing to lose. So at least let me try to avenge my best friend." Seeing the opportunity presented to me, I strike, trying to convince her to let me go and take them out. A bit hasty, but the desire to get my revenge burns inside me. I can't wait.

"No." I look at her, shocked, unable to understand why she is refusing me. Her face, still red from crying is staunch. Her expression is unrelenting. She is resolved to not let me do what I want, to not let me get revenge for George, for her mother.

"No..? WHY!? AREN'T YOU ANGRY!? AREN'T YOU PISSED OFF!? THEY KILLED YOUR MOTHER! THEY KILLED BELLEMERE! THEY COULD KILL ANYONE NEXT! EVEN YOUR SISTER! DON'T YOU WANT REVENGE! DON'T YOU WANT THEM TO DIE!" I shouted, losing control of myself the second she refused me. A simple no from her, and I have to follow it. I just don't understand. Why isn't she letting me? Why doesn't she want me to kill them?

"Of course I want them to die... I hate them. But they are too strong. You won't be able to kill them all. And even if you do manage to injure one, or maybe even kill one of them, all you will do is make the rest angry, and they will take it out on the villagers. So don't throw your life away just so you can hurt one of them. Stay alive. No one else needs to die. No one else needs to suffer." So Nami says, surprising me that she is just as angry as me, and yet she won't let me go, even though she understands how I feel.

"Then what am I supposed to do? What are the villagers supposed to do? Do we just wait around forever, hoping for something to change? For the nearby marines to come to rescue us? Because I have met the leader of that branch, and he is a coward that cares more about himself than the people here. He won't come to rescue us, so we have to deal with this ourselves. I am strong. I can beat them. A bigshot marine from the Grandline came here and trained me for a couple of months four years ago. I can do it." I won't be able to take them all on at once. I don't have enough experience for that. But one by one, using sneak attacks and planning each one out down to the point? I can defeat them all.

"You are just a kid, like me. If you try to fight them, you will die. But I can free everyone. Arlong made a deal with me, and if I can fulfil it, then he and his crew will leave. If I can gather one hundred million berries and give it to Arlong, then he will leave." She says, frustrating me even more.

"And you believe him? That he will just leave like that?" That is absurd. There is no way he would just leave. This entire village is a goldmine for him, with income every month with no work under the threat of death. There is no way Arlong will give this up. And one hundred million berries? There is no way she will gather that much. It is an impossible figure to attain. However, Arlong clearly want her for her map drawing abilities for some reason, and to that effect, he has given her hope, so she will work for him.

"What other choice is there? This way, everyone gets to live. While I am working on getting all that money, they will be fine. Maybe someone will come to free the island while I am trying, which would be great." Is she serious? And that is when I realise me and her are different because she is a legitimate ten-year-old. She wants to believe in this, that she can free everyone, and she won't believe otherwise. I can see it in her eyes. No matter what I say, she won't listen. Only when she has definitive proof in front of her will she accept that.

"He is a pirate. There is no way he will abide by that agreement. So just let me go and kick all their asses, and solve this now. There is no point in waiting. Even if you gather all the money, he will just take it and keep ruling this island. You know that, right?" Even so, I try to tell her. Try to convince her and show her reality, but it doesn't seem to work.

"But I have to try. If there is a way for us to be free without any of the villagers having to die for it. Then no matter how tiny, I have to try. We have to try. And if the day comes when he doesn't do what he agreed to, then... you can do whatever you like. You said you are strong, right? So while I am trying to get one hundred million berries, you could maybe keep getting stronger. So if that ever happens, you can try to kill them." That is... something. Honestly, it is the best I can hope for because I am not convincing her otherwise. She is seriously stubborn, just like that mother of hers.

But gathering all that money is going to take years, maybe even decades. And I need Nami to collect all that money as soon as possible, so then Arlong can betray their deal, and I get free range to kill all of the bastards. The only way I can think for her to get that much is for her to resort to piracy and stealing because there is no other way to get that money so fast. So I am going to help her gather that money as soon as possible so that she can get her hope crushed quicker and free me from this restraint.

"Alright, fine, if that is what you want. But collecting all that money by yourself is going to take too long, so I will help you with it. Hell, we can even get some of the villagers to help as well. With all of us collecting as much as we can, we should be able to raise the full amount much faster." And then Arlong can refuse to abide by the terms of the agreement, and Nami will be shattered. Unfortunate, but what other option do I have? Nami needs to have her hopes destroyed so that she will no longer restrict me and allow me to avenge George, as well as Bellemere.

"We can't. The villagers will already be using their money to pay Arlong. We can't take more from them. They might need it in the future. Arlong already said that I don't need to pay the tax because I will be working for him, so you probably won't have to, too, so you can help me." I know that it would have been tough on the villagers, but if they contributed at least something, then the faster this process could go. I am still trying to figure out how to raise that much money, I certainly can't do it on this island, and I am curious if Arlong will even let us leave the Conami Islands.

"Whatever, there is no point discussing this now. I am going to go, and I promise I won't try to fight, not until you have tried your plan. Is that okay with you?" I phrase the last part sarcastically, but it is a genuine question. Because right now, I am still under her orders to stay here, but as I get up and begin to walk towards the door, I feel no such restraint anymore. Without her having to say anything, I can already feel that I can leave, which is good? It shows that I don't have to obey any verbal commands to the letter, and an order can stay or go depending on how she feels... I think.

"A-Are we allowed to leave? Won't they be angry?" Nami questions behind me, trepidation in her voice, but I can hear her footsteps as she follows me. Good, seems like she is latching on to me, which means I can try to regulate her commands. But, of course, if I am in a higher position than her, then she wouldn't give me orders, would she?

"Let's find out." Of course, some might argue that it is terrible, that I should keep my distance, and I would want that too. But I have already met her, and we are both going to be forced to work for Arlong. And she has already declared that I can not attack or kill the fishmen, which means we will be stuck together. So it is best to undercut this thing now and get ahead of it, then try to ignore it and have it come back to bite me later on.

Approaching the front door, I go to grab the handle, but I still when I hear voices outside, and I quickly turn to Nami and bring a finger to my mouth, gesturing for her to be quiet. Thankfully she is quite an intelligent girl, and she listens to my order, letting me listen to the other side of the door. Since I can't attack these guys now, the best thing I can do is gather information in preparation for the day when I finally can. People reveal much more when they don't think you are listening and when they feel they are in a safe space with no one around. So, pressing my ear against the door, I begin to try and listen for anything important.

"What is Arlong-San thinking? We should have killed him. Did you see what he did?" Hmm, they are talking about Arlong sparing someone, and they think he should have killed them. Who could they be talking about?

"Arlong says to keep him alive, so that's what we will do. Arlong knows what he is doing. So let's trust him." Hmm, these guys seem to have heavy loyalty to their captain.

"I know, I know. But- It was all of us, every single one of us. Only the captain was unaffected. I just can't help but feel this could come back to bite us later if we don't deal with it now." So they were all affected by something, and only Arlong wasn't? I wonder what happened, who on this island did it, and what they did.

"Shh, shut up about it. The captain has already decided, so what else is there to say." At his words, they both quiet down, neither speaking further about the topic. Intrigued, I want to learn more, but they start talking about unimportant things, so I decide to leave. I have something to do, and I can't leave it any longer.

Opening the door, the two fishermen pirates spin around to look at me, hands quickly going to rest on the handles of their weapons as they look at me with caution. Strange, but I ignore it. I don't have time to waste on these guys.

"You guys have already taken over the island, right? So there is nowhere for us to go for help, so can we go? It isn't like we can run away." I raise an eyebrow at them, inquiring because I don't want to provoke or start a fight with any of them. Right now, I am forbidden from fighting with them, so if they begin to attack me, I have no idea if I will be allowed to defend myself. So I don't want to risk it.

They both turn to look at each other before looking back down at me, their grasp on their weapons tightening before they simply give me a nod and move to the side, giving me way. I start to walk past them, Nami quickly following behind me.

I notice that they never take their eyes off me as I move away, and their hands stay tightly on their weapons. Very strange, these guys were so rough and loud on the beach, and they definitely don't like humans. But they just let me go without saying a word, not even swearing at me when they seem to hate humans.

Very weird, but I don't have time to dwell on it any further. I have to go deal with... Shaking my head, I quicken my pace, Nami scurrying along behind me.