Maro was excitedly jumping around next to an ever patient Rosan. For once, the two were not in their disguises and donned their regular clothing.
"You know," Aiko began, eyeing the two. "I think this is the first time I've seen you two without your cloaks," she commented as she looked them up and down.
"I had no idea you two could dress so well!" Akemi gushed at the two children before her. Who knew that they looked so good outside of their guise!
Rosan was wearing a buttoned, long sleeve black cardigan that was left open to show a loose, dark purple shirt underneath and some long black baggy pants that were lined with a similar shade of purple. He wore predominantly purple shoes that had a large amount of black on them.
His hair was tied into his preferred bun showing off his ruby red earrings and he had all his other accessories on as well.
Maro (who had no sense of style) had been dressed up by Angel and the 12 year old currently wore a modified blue kimono, that allowed her freedom of movement, with a wave pattern on it. Her azure blue hair remained the same length and style.
The girl didn't see any use in wearing accessories (besides her tiara!) and when she asked Rosan why he wore so many, his reasoning being that each was a memento for someone he loved, made her burst into tears.
Curse her sappy heart!
"Look at you, Maro!" Akemi gushed. "You look like a princess with that setup! It's hard to imagine that you used to be such a skinny little thing and now your so healthy!"
Maro beamed at that. Her evolution was a sight to behold and she was no longer the dirty little girl who had been struggling for food on the daily. Master had turned her into a rather fit person and honestly the Goblin felt like she pretty good looking!
"Gotta admit Rosan," Aiko said dryly looking at the boy. "I didn't think you knew anything besides that black cloak, you look seriously good like this," the gray haired woman praised.
"I've been told that I'm rather vain so a sense of style is needed," Rosan commented idly and he thanked her for the compliment.
"As much as I'm loving being praised," Maro began with a large grin. "We're here for a reason! A little birdie told me that my Super Suit is finished!"
Aiko rolled her eyes at the impatience displayed but she nodded. "Yeah yeah yeah you eager little brat," she grumbled. "They're ready for the both of you so let's just go," the leader of Fregate finished and she prepared to depart the castle.
Rosan and Maro were out of disguise due to the boy wanting to avoid letting anyone know that Fregate was allied with Reaper. Not too much people knew and the redhead knew everyone that did (everyone that had witnessed his arrival the first time).
He scarcely left the castle so no one actually knew when Reaper was on the island barring Aiko and Akemi. It was good just in case things went bad. Rosan didn't want Fregate to be a target due to the Angel of Death.
"I trust you aren't advertising the fact that you have Germa's technology, Aiko?" Rosan questioned idly. "Don't make it obvious, if they launch an attack on you I won't be able to stop them."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Aiko barked out a laugh, not looking worried in the slightest. "Fregate is not really a country big on combat so that's a plus but, we've got measures to make sure they don't notice."
"That scientist is seriously impressive though," the gray haired woman remarked, with an impressed smile. "He managed to get so much done so quickly! This is the power of Germa I guess. Though, the clones take quite a long time to fully develop," she commented, shrugging at the information. She didn't really care about the clones truthfully but some extra firepower was always useful.
"I was lucky to grab a head scientist," Rosan said truthfully. "He just happened to be in that forbidden room so I assumed that he knew multiple things. Hiroshi is adjusting rather well though."
"Mhm," Aiko nodded in agreement. "His old boss must have been a piece of shit because he loves it here so I doubt he'll wanna leave anytime soon."
"That's good to hear," the redhead said and the two went into a comfortable silence.
"Raid suit! Raid suit! Raid suit~," Maro sang in joy as she practically skipped to the location. The blue haired girl was garnering the attention of quite a few people and now the group were being eyed up by observers.
Aiko didn't fail to notice some of the gazes that landed on them and smirked teasingly at the eyes on Rosan and Maro.
"Seems like you two are rather popular eye candy right now," she poked. It wasn't a surprise, she hadn't been lying when talking about their looks. The two were rather attractive and if not for the fact they almost always wore disguises, they'd get a lot more positive attention.
"I'm 13," Rosan said simply.
"I'm 12!" Maro followed up before a blush washed over her face. "A-and I already like someone…" she finished in a near whisper.
Akemi squealed as she heard that and Aiko just knew they were going to have a girl talk about it later.
"Is it Rosan?" she whispered quietly and the boy clearly heard it, but he ignored it.
"I'm attracted to Master but I don't think I'm the one he needs. P-plus I look up to him," Maro whispered back. "The girl I like looks exactly like him though so it's a win-win for me!"
"It's a girl and she looks like Rosan?!" Akemi sounded extremely interested and Aiko suddenly was too. A girl that looked just like Rosan? If the boy was any indication then Maro's crush was no doubt attractive.
Lucky brat.
"Yeah! She's really scary but also kind of sweet when she wants to be and she hates everyone, but a few people and I'm one of them... I think! A-and she's also super cute, like cuter than me and I think she knows I like her…"
"Angel doesn't know," Rosan said suddenly and Maro's jaw dropped at the fact that he was peeping into their conversation.
"M-Master did you hear everything?"
"Yes, I have exceptional hearing. There was no reason for me to comment until now so I chose not too."
"So you uh, heard the part where I said I was attracted to you…?"
"That's correct. Your reasoning for not pursuing me is a smart one as well," Rosan said calmly.
"Though, if you had asked, I probably would have said yes as long as Mod-chan agreed."
"I would have!" Mod smiled teasingly.
All 3 of the girls spluttered at the blunt declaration and Maro especially turned an interesting shade of red.
"W-why would you say yes? Do you think I'm pretty?" Maro asked with a little happiness.
"You are attractive but that's not the reason why," Rosan said blandly. "I would have said yes because a relationship would have been a good opportunity to try and feel something again."
Their eyes went soft as they heard his explanation. That was right, Rosan was still a brick wall and despite his time with Maro, it seemed barely any progress was made. Sure the boy sometimes did something surprising, but that was mostly on memories of how he used to be.
"You and Angel would make a good pairing though," Rosan said softly, making her eyes widen. "You won't let her walk all over you and she likes a person that will stand up to her, though she won't admit that."
"And after all the stress Demon and I put her through, she deserves a little happiness outside of the two of us."
"You're so sweet, Rosan," Mod said with a fond smile on her face.
"Angel is the name of the one you like? Don't worry," Akemi said with a fire in her eyes. "We'll get you and her together at all costs."
"W-wait, I didn't ask for this," Maro stammered and Aiko just loved seeing the look of embarrassment on the cocky girls face. It was a rare sight and the leader of Fregate relished in it.
"You have my approval," Rosan said and he paused for a moment before nodding. "Ram says that you can't ogle her and Mod-chan anymore or else she's telling Angel."
Maro moaned in defeat. She just wanted her Raid Suit!
----------------------------------------
"Maro-sama, Rosan-sama!" Hiroshi greeted "I've finished both your Raid Suits," the scientist finished in excitement, as he led the two to a location in his lab.
Besides asking the two for a rather large blood sample and what they were looking for specifically, Rosan and Maro had been left largely in the dark about the process of the Raid Suit.
While Rosan was fine with that, Maro was rather impatient and she instead had to force herself to focus on other things. The most effective thing was Angel and due to that the blue haired girl's crush was developing more and more.
"Hiroshi." Rosan nodded as greeting. "I trust you are doing well," the teen finished politely.
"Hiya Hiroshi," Maro greeted with an excited grin as she vibrated in anticipation. "How ya doin?!" The bluenette asked as she got close to the man, who stepped back instinctively from her enthusiasm.
"I'm doing fine, thank you for asking," the scientist said before coughing. "I can see your excitement so let's not waste any time!" He finished with an excited grin on his face.
Finishing such an important task for his new boss, filled Hiroshi with an accomplished feeling. He just hoped they were satisfied with the end product. It wasn't the exact same as the Raid Suit's made for Judge and his children but it should still satisfy their needs.
"Oh!" Hiroshi exclaimed as he turned towards Rosan. "Rosan-sama, I managed to get you the weapons you requested!"
Rosan glanced at him momentarily before nodding. "Thank you, I'd like them now if possible," he said softly and the scientist nodded enthusiastically.
"But Maaaaaster," Maro complained. "I want the Raid Suit!"
"So get it."
"But I wanna get it at the same time as you!"
"So wait."
"But I don't wanna!"
"Ram would like to have a word with you about delaying her growth in power."
"Suddenly, I don't mind waiting."
Everyone witnessing the conversation sweatdropped at how quickly Maro changed her mind. Whoever Ram was, they really didn't seem like a person to be trifled with.
Eventually, the group made it to Hiroshi's room and entered without haste.
"Here we are," the scientist began before going to find what he got ready for Rosan.
The redhead looked at the weapon's with an appraising eye. There was a cannon, a pistol, a rifle, and a bow.
Personally, Rosan wasn't interested in the weapons themselves. After all, Ram could already transform into all of these. What he was interested in was the resources the weapons used.
The 13 year old didn't know what it was but Germa's weapons did not use standard ammo. They used some sort of energy and Rosan wanted that for himself.
If Ram could absorb the energy-like properties of the weapon, then the redhead could use them as well.
"If?" Ram said, sounding genuinely offended. "I am the ultimate weapon! Of course I can absorb it all Father!"
"I'm sorry for doubting you, Ram," Rosan said and she scoffed.
"If it were anyone else they'd have to pay! But, since it's you, I suppose I can forgive you."
"What about me?" Mod asked in amusement and Ram immediately froze.
"Of course you are exempt as well, Auntie Mod!" The silver haired girl said nervously. Rosan never disciplined the arrogant girl, so it was up to Mod to do it in his stead.
She had practically raised Rosan, Robin, AND Meiko so Ram was nothing new.
Rosan, done inspecting, extended his left hand and grabbed each weapon. Ram was a selfish girl (she got that from him) and as such, any weapon that wasn't her, that the redhead grabbed, she would absorb it.
Her Father wasn't allowed to use anyone else but her because she was the best!
Everyone watched with a surprised gaze as the weapons were disintegrated and assimilated with the expensive silver ring on Rosan's hand.
Rosan, being so intertwined with Ram, was also being affected. The boy flexed his hands and was satisfied to see the air distort slightly around it. Ram transformed into a set of form fitting gloves and the redhead aimed at a target.
His gloves began glowing and the target didn't stand a chance at the massive blast of energy shot at it and vaporized it on the spot.
"Oh, I like," Ram said crazily, as Rosan glanced at the steaming glove.
It was strong. It would serve his arsenal well.
"Since you've absorbed this energy, you can use it for other weapons as well?" Rosan asked and he reverted the gloves back into his ring.
"Yep! I can switch between them now and this energy source thingy is super useful," Ram gushed and Rosan nodded before focusing his attention back onto Hiroshi.
"Thank you Hiroshi, those weapons were valuable to me," Rosan said with a short nod.
The man stuttered a bit at his casual display of power before recovering. "I-it's my pleasure, Rosan-sama," he said with a bow.
"So your ring is a weapon… Neat," Aiko said unsurprisingly. The teen was full of tricks and a weaponized ring was on the tamer side of what he could do.
"Such a beautiful ring being so dangerous... How scary," Akemi whispered in awe and a bit of fear.
"Ram is seriously impressive," Maro hummed. "It's a good thing I decided to grab those weapons, I had no idea you'd be able to casually use their power source."
"She is my ultimate weapon after all," Rosan commented simply.
"So your ring is Ram and it's a she? How considerate," Aiko laughed shortly.
"You can meet her one day if you want. A fair warning though, she has no respect for anyone but a select few and she can be rude."
"Nah, I think I'm good."
"Raaaaid Suit," Maro complained, having had enough. Master had gotten what he wanted so now it was time for her to get what she wanted!
She was about to throw a fit but a canister dropping in her hand stopped her. It was simply white with nothing extra on it.
Similarly, a simple black canister was dropped in Rosan's hand.
"I would have designed it, but something tells me it won't be staying in it's canister form for much longer," Hiroshi said in amusement.
"That reminds me," Rosan began suddenly. "How exactly are the Raid Suit's biometrically locked? The Green 4 is impossible to open, even with Modification. I've never failed to open something with Modification," the redhead finished and he almost sounded annoyed.
"Well to not get to complicated," Hiroshi began, clearing his throat. "Basically, every single human has something called a Lineage Factor, which is the blueprint of life itself."
That piqued Rosan's interest. "Oh? Tell me more."
"It was discovered by a research team that was led by Dr. Vegapunk and Judge-sama," Hiroshi said.
"Vegapunk," Rosan repeated at the familiar name.
"…" Mod frowned slightly at the name and Ram rubbed her back soothingly.
Maro raised a brow at the familiar name. "This Vegapunk guy is seriously smart huh?" She asked to herself mostly.
Hiroshi nodded in confirmation. "He's an absolute genius! Vegapunk discovered that you could manipulate it from a young age and it would change the growth of a life form."
Rosan thought deeply about this. "Judge's children. They are modified because of this?"
"Ah so you met them!" Hiroshi exclaimed in surprise and Rosan nodded. "Yes, Judge-sama modified all 5 of his children. He modified 4 while his wife was still pregnant and his oldest daughter too."
"It worked for all but one?" The redhead asked and Hiroshi shot him a strange look.
"Yes, it failed on his third son Sanji and he unfortunately died to unknown circumstances," the man informed them all.
Rosan's face betrayed nothing but on the inside his mind was working.
"Died? That kid looked pretty alive to me," Maro hummed in contemplation.
"Probably wanted to make everyone think he was dead so he didn't have to think about him," Rosan thought as he thought about the terrible father.
"I see… Is there anything else you can tell me about Lineage Factors?" Rosan said, avoiding mentioning that Sanji was alive. Let him enjoy his life outside of anything Germa related.
"Hm. Oh yes! Since you have one this information might benefit you. Devil Fruit's actually change the user's lineage factor once consumed!"
"That explains a lot," Rosan said simply. If eating a Devil Fruit altered your genetics to such a degree, it was no wonder Maro was changing the way that she was.
Then Rosan paused.
"So a Devil Fruit combines with a person's Lineage Factor, altering them to their core?"
"Yes, as you'll see with your Raid Suits, it has some changes that fit your Devil Fruits due to the fact that it was made with some of your Lineage Factor," Hiroshi said in excitement. Not even he knew how different they'd be from Germa's own Raid Suit's.
Judge nor his children had Devil Fruits but their suits seemingly had special abilities regardless.
"My Raid Suit will have some qualities of Modification because you extracted my Lineage Factor…," Rosan was deep in thought. Did that mean you could extract a person's Devil Fruit? Unlikely, they would probably need to die…
But maybe he could… hm. It was a thought for the future but he was quite interested now.
"Your mind is a scary place, Rosan," Mod said in wonder. The things he thought about were probably not on the spectrum of normal.
"Maro is about to blow a lid and I'm sure your all curious, so let's use our Raid Suit," the redhead said, as he stored that information away for a later date.
Maro cheered at hearing that. Finally! She had been waiting way too long and now it was time.
"Master, we have to do it at the same time!" The Goblin girl demanded holding her canister up. There was no way she was keeping this inconvenient thing as a can, she'd just have Rosan modify into something more fitting.
"Right," the teen said simply and he held up his own canister. What an inconvenient item, he'd modify it into something more fitting after testing it.
The two, after instructions from Hiroshi, held the canisters to their waists and everyone watched in awe as the canister began glowing and the clothes began wrapping around the two.
Maro was wearing a predominantly white and blue battle dress with sleeves that stopped at her elbow and a skirt. She wore long, knee length white boots and long white gloves that met where her sleeve ended. Combined with her tiara, the girl looked like royalty.
"Oh! I like it! I look so good!" Maro gushed. She looked like the type of princess that wasn't afraid to kick ass, which was funny because her outfit was so white! The 12 year old looked over at Rosan and gasped at his apparel.
The redhead was wearing a long, open black coat with red streaks that stopped at his knees and underneath the coat was a form fitting red shirt that showed his rather muscular frame and the pendant as well.
He had long black baggy pants and stylish red sneakers lined with black streaks. For once, the teen had no gloves on showing his bronze hand and the silver ring on it.
The boy looked at his outfit for a moment and nodded. It looked just fine.
"You look so cool, Master!" Maro gushed as she closed the distance between the two. She was inspecting him up and down and prodding his body over and over again.
"Thank you. It is to my liking as well," Rosan said softly and he inspected his student. "You look good. It's hard to imagine that only a year ago, you didn't even know how to properly bathe."
"Aw Master, yer makin me blush," Maro said bashfully. She knew she looked good but hearing it from someone she looked up to, made her feel a lot better.
"Fascinating! It seems the Raid Suits have changed to match your preferences," Hiroshi muttered and he began jotting something down.
As he began running tests on the two, Rosan hummed.
After a moment, his outfit instantly transformed and Reaper was standing before them. They all jumped at the sudden change and Maro looked at him with wide eyes.
"That was instantaneous," she pointed out and Rosan simply nodded.
"I didn't use Modification either. The outfit simply responded to my thoughts," the redhead informed them, making their eyes go wide.
"I believe due to being made with my Lineage Factor, this outfit's ability is to transform. It's simple but my Raid Suit can be a permanent addition while looking like normal clothing or I can change it to fit the situation," Rosan informed her and to further prove his point, the teen's Raid Suit seamlessly shifted into winter apparel, summer apparel, hell it even transformed into a suit of armor!
So Rosan had an adaptable weapon and adaptable clothing? That was awesome!
"Wait, so what's my special ability?" Maro asked in confusion as she adopted a thinking pose. Rosan's was directly tied to his Devil Fruit so hers must have been too!
Try as she might, she couldn't really think of any special ability this Raid Suit had, that her Devil Fruit couldn't already do.
Then again… Rosan probably could have modified his clothing even without that ability! It just looked so much smoother and didn't drain any unnecessary energy from the teen.
Maro summoned her blue flames and she was shocked to see that her battle dress was producing them too! Did her Raid Suit greatly enhance what she already had?
"Seems like you've come to a realization," Rosan said and Hiroshi nodded enthusiastically.
"That's really the premise of the Raid Suits Maro-sama! They greatly increase your fighting abilities!" He explained and Maro was nodding too.
"Though you two can't swim, they are still waterproof, resistant to fire, bulletproof and your footwear allows you to float and jump far distances!" He explained.
Rosan and Maro could already fly but this still had their uses.
"All of the future commanders Raid Suit's have a special ability inside of them, but you two already have special abilities and so your Raid Suit ability is based off of that," the man finished and Maro's eyes sparkled.
"So with this Raid Suit…I'm practically enhanced?! That's awesome!" She cheered.
The 12 year old stepped away from everyone and immediately transformed into her full Zoan and the dress grew with her. Looking at the monstrous 6'6 figure in a battle dress, was quite the amusing sight but it didn't take away from how terrifying the Dokkaebi looked.
Maro looked at her attire in wonder. It was different from her Grim Disguise. It felt much more...organic in a way! Like it would grow with her naturally! This didn't feel like a disguise that Master gave her to suit her needs. This felt like her very own personal armor.
The physical boost of the Raid Suit extended to her transformation as well! Her Hybrid form would be a force to be reckoned with when she chose to go all out!
"I love it!" Maro exclaimed and everyone, sans Rosan, flinched at the roar. She casually summoned some flames and squeaked at the sheer power behind them.
This was the type of power when she actually put effort into harming someone!
"I knew raiding Germa was gonna be a great idea," the bluenette cheered as she deactivated her transformation. The Raid Suit put her in a whole new realm of strength right now and she was only going to get stronger!
"It seems to benefit you a lot due to your Zoan nature," Rosan explained softly as he deactivated his Raid Suit and went back to his former outfit.
Maro glared jealously as, instead of turning into a canister like it was supposed to, it turned into a black armband.
"It's almost like I have a second Ram," Rosan commented as he got rid of his inconvenience issue. It would be much more convenient if it was an armband that was permanently on his person rather than a canister that would be annoying to carry everywhere.
The girl deactivated her own Raid Suit and soon, she was back in her kimono with a canister in her hand. She glared at it in contempt.
Master had taught her the importance of not wasting time and this Canister was a waste of time.
"What do you want me to transform it into?" Rosan asked, already sensing her demand.
She beamed at him and hugged the teen, before thinking about his question. As she looked at her Master, a shy blush suddenly appeared on her face.
The girl mumbled something so lowly that not even Rosan could pick it up.
"I can't hear you, Maro," the redhead said calmly and she buried her face into his shirt.
"Can ya turn em into some blue earrings like the ones in your ear? I want it to be my own memento for how ya gave me a new chance at life," she said again, voice uncharacteristically soft.
"That is so sweet!" Mod gushed at the adorable blue haired girl.
"Yes! Praise Father like he deserves to be," Ram cheered.
Akemi cooed at the sight and said "I'm so happy for you Maro! You deserve to be where you are right now!"
Aiko sighed at the, admittedly, cute as hell sight and said "You two are gonna be the death of me one day but I guess it's pretty worth it to see stuff like this."
Maro blushed deeper at that and whined at them to shut up.
Rosan stayed silent as he stared at her. Eventually, he grabbed the canister and modified it into the dangling, sapphire blue orbs she requested.
"Here, let me put them on for you," Rosan said quietly and the girl uncharacteristically stayed still for him to do just that.
Once he was finished, Maro hugged him tenderly and he returned it.
"Thank you Master. As long as I'm still breathing, I will always be Grim, the faithful partner of Reaper," she declared softly.
Rosan stared at her and she missed the unreadable look on his face at her declaration. He seemed to almost be deep in thought but he said, "You're loyalty is one a lot of people would kill to have and you chose to give it to me. I am undeserving of such faith, especially after what I put you through, but that just makes me all the more appreciative."
"Thank you Maro, for everything."
The girl couldn't hold back the tears and she sobbed happily into Rosan's chest.
Everyone smiled at the tender scene.
----------------------------------------
Maro couldn't believe that Master was taller then her now.
The 13 year old bluenette looked at the towering 14 year old with a scowl on her face.
"Did you modify your height?"
"No. Permanently changing something about my physical appearance is not something I'm fond of."
"...Did Master Mod-chan change your height?" She asked instead.
"Mod-chan is as depressed as you at the fact that I'm taller than her now. It's probably because I make a bad little spoon now."
"...Did you modify your height?" She tried.
"You already asked me that."
The 5'9 Maro held her head in defeat. Looking at her, was the 5'11 teen that was Rosan.
This didn't make any sense! His growth spurt had literally blindsided her!
"Everyone is taller than me now…," Mod lamented. Even Ram, who aged at the same speed as Rosan, stood taller than her at 5'9 and was properly filling out as a woman.
She should have made herself taller when deciding on her appearance.
"Don't worry, Auntie Mod!" Ram reassured, sympathetically patting the shorter woman. "You're still hot!"
"Thank you so much, Ram," Mod said dryly. She really needed that compliment to cheer her up.
"I'm not sure why any of you are surprised," Rosan said calmly. "I did say it was only a matter of time before I grew."
"We all thought you were full of shit!" Maro complained and Angel laughed at that. She and Rosan were currently the same height because it seemed like Rosan's female form had finally decided to stop growing taller.
That's the only thing that stopped though because the transformation was still developing and Maro learned that the hard way every time she looked at Angel.
"You saw how tall my female form was," Rosan pointed out bluntly. "Did you think I was going to be shorter than her? I'm likely not even done growing," the redhead said and Maro hung her head in despair.
"B-b-but I'm the shortest on the ship now," Maro whined. "Aren't Zoans supposed to affect my growth! I demand compensation now!"
"Maybe you're supposed to be shorter than you are now," Rosan said, unintentionally bruising her ego more and making Angel double over.
"I think it depends on the Zoan as well and I guess it doesn't apply as much to the Dokkaebi," he offered the inconsolable girl.
"Bullshit, that's what it is," she grumbled.
Angel rolled her eyes at the sulking girl. "Chin up, Maro! It's not like you're done growing we're all still young and puberty lasts a long time," the redhead clone informed the shorter girl.
"I hate puberty. It makes me moody and messes me up on missions so now we can't go on them right now. And it makes Master way taller than me," Maro sulked and Angel sighed at the pathetic sight.
"I'm two inches taller than you, you're exaggerating right now."
"Well instead of going out on missions, you get to hang out with Demon and I! Who wouldn't want to hang out with me?" Angel preened confidently and her twin brother rolled his eyes.
"Egomaniac," the tall, purple haired clone said.
"What did you say?" Angel asked.
"I said Maro was gushing to me about your looks today," Demon replied and the both of them blushed.
"Stop lying, you stupid little brother!" Angel scowled and she prepared to chase her brother down to get a proper answer out of them.
"Demon, don't tease me please," Maro mumbled with an atomic red blush on her face.
"There's an island near," Rosan said suddenly, making them pause. "We can all check it out since we've got nothing better to do. If not, I'll be heading into my mindscape."
"No! Let's all hang out," Angel said enthusiastically, running up to and hugging him in glee.
"I'm such a pervert," Maro sighed in defeat as she drank in the sight of the two attractive siblings hugging.
Demon patted her back soothingly. "I'm sure if you just asked her for a hug, she'd give you one," he whispered.
"Or she'd kill me," Maro countered, voice just as low.
"...That's true," he mused, before shrugging with a small laugh. "You'll never know if you don't try."
"What are you laughing about over there?" Angel asked curiously, still hugging a complacent Rosan.
"Don't wanna tell you," Demon said with a small grin and Angel let out a snort of outrage.
"Who the hell made you this rebellious? Was it Maro?!" she demanded.
"N-no, it wasn't me!" Maro tried defending herself but Angel wasn't having it.
Playing matchmaker was funnier then he thought it would be.
"I never took you for one to be so mischievous, Demon," Rosan said idly, glancing at the two girls of the ship.
"Well I am a clone of you, Master," he replied with a smile and Rosan nodded in agreement.
"That you are."
----------------------------------------
"Let's split up to buy necessities," Rosan said calmly. "Demon and I will go together. Angel and Maro you two group up and buy things for your garden."
Maro's jaw dropped at Rosan's statement. Was he serious?! Just like that?!
Angel beamed at the thought of the garden. "Okay! I wanted to try growing strawberries and I wanna plant a mango tree. C'mon Maro, lets go!" She finished, grabbing the bluenette by her arm and dragging her away.
"Be careful," Demon called with a wave before turning towards his face twin. "We rarely hang out huh, Master?"
"That's true. It's probably because we are both so quiet," Rosan said softly as he watched the two depart.
"There's comfort in silence so I don't mind," Demon shrugged. He had been getting much more comfortable around Rosan and he found that the way he acted previously was rather silly.
His Master was just a boy after all.
"Fair warning," Rosan said as they leapt off the White Rose. "Every island I've gone to undisguised recently has had multiple people try to seduce me. Seeing as we look alike, be wary of them."
"Does it really happen that often?" Demon asked curiously.
"More than you could imagine," Mod said with a tired sigh.
"They can't even stand on the same level as Father!" Ram complained at the thought of the multitude of men and woman that showed interest in Rosan.
Honestly, they needed to tone it down. Rosan was only 14!
"This island looks like its in terrible condition so I think we'll be fine," Rosan commented and Demon had to agree.
"Are we really gonna find anything here?"
"Probably not. I simply did this as a way to force Angel and Maro to interact for as long as possible before they realize this island is a dud."
"You're scary, Master."
"Thank you/Thanks!/Thank you," the three voices replied and Demon sighed.
He was never going to get used to that.
----------------------------------------
Master was a jerk. He knew that she was a bumbling mess around Angel and yet he still chose to do something this conniving!
Maro could barely form coherent sentences around the haughty clone these days. She thanked the stars that this crush formed after the girl could comfortably bath by herself or else she'd be dead from blood loss.
"Ugh, I don't think this island really has anything useful," Angel complained at the sorry state of everything. "Even worse, so much people are staring at us. Have they never seen someone as hot as me?"
Maro almost agreed before biting her cheek. The two were dressed rather lavishly, with Angel wearing an expensive, white fur coat over a red crop top, white latex pants, and red shoes. The tall redhead had some fancy shades on her tan face, an expensive white purse and her read hair flowed freely down her back.
All in all, Angel looked like she had money to flaunt and was aware of that. The girl was stunning and Maro felt under dressed in comparison.
The bluenette had never been huge on fashion, normally letting Rosan and Angel buy her clothing, and as such she normally stuck to her kimonos (being the first outfit she wore that belonged to her).
Currently, she was wearing a short all red kimono with a white obi and some black sandals. Her short blue hair, with white streaks, was in it's ever present chin length style but her bang had grown to cover more of her face stopping a bit below her eye now. Her sapphire earrings dangle idly with every moment and she touched it for a moment before letting it go.
"I think they're looking at you," Maro pointed out and Angel scoffed.
"You say that like you don't look good either," the redhead countered and Maro flushed.
"You think so…?" She asked in confusion, looking down at herself. The bluenette knew that she was pretty attractive but compared to Angel? Or well…anyone else on that ship...
Damn Rosan and his damn genetics.
"Duh! You're hot, Maro," Angel said with a roll of her eyes and Maro went a bit lightheaded at the blunt statement. The redhead really needed to think about what she said these days or the bluenette would catch a heart attack.
The girl steeled herself a bit and was prepared to compliment Angel in return. She turned towards the girl —
Only to see a tiny figure snatch her crushes purse and take off in a direction.
The murder in Angel's eyes, made Maro stop the clone from taking another step.
"Wait wait wait! I'll go get your purse Angel, you just wait here and try not to kill anyone," Maro said steadying the older girl, who forced herself to calm down.
"Deep breaths until I come back okay?" The bluenette requested and Angel nodded mechanically.
The athletic goblin turned on her heel and rushed to find the thief before Angel turned homicidal and dragged Rosan into this. If she did that, well this poor island would become even worse.
Ugh, she just wanted to talk about her crush!
----------------------------------------
"This island's conditions are poorer then I thought," Rosan mused and Demon nodded in agreement.
"I asked that nice lady who kept eyeing me about it," the purple haired teen began. "Apparently they are being subjugated by a rather selfish king who only cares for himself and the citizens are suffering for it," he commented.
"Anyone who tries to riot deals with his guards and the bandits that he hired."
"I see," Rosan said softly before pausing.
"Are you planning on helping?" Demon wondered.
"No, I am not Reaper today and even if I were, the king has no bounty that would make the Angel of Death interested in him. Besides, I don't care for these people," he said coldly.
"Right," Demon said, nodding at the words of his Master. "Still, I hear the king has quite the perverted streak and regularly picks up woman he garners an interest in."
"Is that so?" Rosan asked before humming. The two were currently seated in a rather lifeless park.
"Something tells me today will be an eventful day," he eventually said and Demon raised a brow at that.
"Why?"
"Maro," was all the redhead said and he glanced at the people in the distance. "Despite everything, my student still has a bleeding heart and she will no doubt empathize with the people here."
"How can you be so sure?" The purple haired clone asked. Maro, under Rosan's tutelage, had become quite the little monster and something like this wouldn't be enough to move her.
"She is my right-hand. Of course I know," was all he said.
----------------------------------------
Maro had not been expecting the tiny little thief to be a little girl who looked about 8.
She had black grimy hair, rags, and scuff marks all over her pale body. The girl's blue eyes were staring at her with utter terror at being cornered so easily.
Maro cut quite an imposing figure these days outside of her disguise. Not only was she tall, she had feminine figure that showed off her curves and the fact that she worked out.
Her kimonos normally hid that, but she was wearing a short one today and that had the effect of showing off her strong, lithe legs.
These features were out on full display to the cornered little girl before her. The black haired girl's eyes darted in every direction as she tried to find an escape and she clutched the stolen purse. Maro's burnt orange eyes bore into her and the little girl burst into tears.
Scared, dirty, and in the face of someone so much stronger than you.
It was nauseatingly familiar.
Maro bit back a snarl at the memories of her home island and took her own advice. Ever since eating the Hito Hito no mi, Model: Dokkaebi, she had gotten rather quick to anger and so Rosan gave her advice on how to better control that.
The shock on her face when the redhead told her that he also had anger issues, should have been framed.
Maro took a deep breath and reached into her kimono. The thief saw this and began trembling terribly. She looked as if she was about to run through the tall girl but she wouldn't even be able to budge the 13 year old's body.
The Oni ignored this all and summoned 3 apples from the White Rose. Pulling it out of her obi, she offered it to the girl who could only stare at her in shock.
"I need that purse but I know you're hungry so here," Maro offered to the wide eyed child. "I'm not going to hurt you, I understand why you're doing what your doing but the person who that purse belongs, to will not hesitate to kill you," she explained patiently.
"So I'll give you these apples in exchange for the purse okay?"
The black haired girl stared at her, almost not believing her words, before nodding hesitantly. She handed the purse back to Maro, who gave her the 3 apples in return.
The tiny thing wasted no time in devouring one and the bluenette raised a brow at the fervor she was eating it at. The child was very clearly desperate to eat anything.
"Good! Now I have to go before my partner gets really mad," Maro said cheerfully, getting back up and dusting herself. She needed to make sure Angel hadn't killed anyone or else they'd probably have to leave the island. Though, this island was pretty terrible anyways so they'd leave soon regardless.
"Enjoy your meal and try not to steal from scary people! Steal from the ones who won't be able to chase you!" She advised, turning around and leaving.
What she didn't expect, was to hear tiny footsteps shuffling behind her confident ones. She paused and a tiny figure crashed into her.
Maro craned her head and was confused to see the child looking up at her while gobbling up another apple. The Oni looked at the black haired kid and asked, "What are you doing?"
She hid her face behind her dirty hair and didn't answer. Maro simply shrugged, turned around and kept walking.
Angel would deal with her. That girl was ruthless and she didn't care how old you were.
That reminded her…Maro wanted to confess to Angel and she had been this close until getting interrupted. The girl had straight up called her hot! Maro almost squealed from the memory and felt her confidence skyrocket.
The moment she met up with Angel, she would confess to her!
Or at least, that was the plan until she saw 4 men hounding her crush. They all had lecherous grins on their faces and it was clear that they were up to no good.
Based on the look in Angel's eyes, she was seconds away from committing manslaughter —
And Maro was right there with her. The 13 year old let out a furious snarl, summoned her club and charged the 4 with no hesitation.
The first one couldn't even turn around in time before the wooden club (Maro forgot to put an illusion over it in her anger) smashed into his head and sent him careening. He was already unconscious by the time he hit the floor and a steady pool of blood was forming under his head.
"So…," Maro said with a frown. "Wanna speed me up on what's happening here?"
Angel's eyes lit up as she saw her and Maro nearly melted. "Maro! Thank Kami, I didn't want to get my hands dirty with them!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the shorter girl. The redhead looked at them with blatant disgust and a sneer formed on her face.
"They approached me talking about the king wanting to meet me or somethin," Angel scowled in fury. "He's a pervert and he wanted to add me to his collection! The nerve of that slimy bastard," she snarled.
Maro saw red at the explanation and her skin actually began turning green! "Y-you aren't anyone's object! How dare they treat you like one?!" The Oni snarled and Angel looked at her in worry.
"...Are you okay? You seem more upset than me!" Angel pointed out in worry. She clearly noticed the green hue of her budding transformation and wondered why Maro was getting that angry.
"I'll be okay once they're all dead," Maro declared, as she hoisted up her club.
"I didn't expect to go hunting today but hey, the beauty of the world is expecting the unexpected," Maro grinned wildly as she leapt at the closest person.
Her target tried to hold up a sword to block her swing and he was in for the shock of his life as the sword folded under the pressure of the wooden club. That surprise was short lived because it soon smashed into his ribs and broke every bone that it connected to.
The onlooking crowd watched in disbelief at the demolition of their tormentors. They watched as the teen literally suplexed one of the men 3 times into unconsciousness.
Maro laughed at the fear on the last man's face as his weapon broke on her left side. The Oni then grabbed his neck, hoisted him up, and slammed him into the ground over and over again.
Eventually, the girl was satisfied and she tossed his body to the side with a huff.
"Did they touch you?" Maro asked in concern and Angel scoffed.
"If they touched me, you wouldn't have been able to get your hands on them," she declared and the bluenette let out a laugh at the statement that turned into a wheeze as Angel looked over her shoulder.
The redhead's gaze turned murderous and the little girl that had been tailing her squeaked in terror. "Is this the little thief that stole my purse, Maro?! Why is she following you around like a dog?" The redhead snarled and Maro's gaze snapped to said girl.
"Ah don't worry, Angel!" Maro placated the taller teen frantically. "I got your purse back but I felt bad because of how hungry she was and it made me remember my early days," the Oni explained patiently.
"I felt bad so I gave her some apples, now she won't stop following me."
"She won't be following anyone after I break the little shit's legs," Angel decided and Maro had to physically restrain the girl from doing just that. Maro blushed as she was forced to wrap both hands around the redhead's exposed belly.
Her poor target was torn between running for her life, or staying close to Maro. The indecision just made her freeze in her spot and the bluenette wondered how dumb someone could be.
"Um...excuse me?" A raspy voice called, interrupting their conversation.
Maro raised a brow at the old man speaking to them and Angel scowled, causing him to flinch. The redhead, much to Maro's disappointment, extracted herself from the Oni's grasp and glared silently at him.
Looks like Maro was taking the lead on this.
"Sup, old man," Maro greeted the man with a curious look. "Are these your friends? You come to defend their honor? I don't think you could hurt a fly with that figure but I'll bite!" Maro shot off rapidly, making the old man pale.
"No no! I wouldn't dream of fighting such a powerful fighter such as you!"
Maro laughed at the terrified look in his eye. "I'm just kiddin! You look like you're about to keel over!" She cackled before getting composing herself. "What do you want?"
It was then that she noticed the large crowd surrounding her and Maro sweatdropped. It was a good thing she had illusions up when fighting as Grim, Master would probably not be pleased if this was how his identity was revealed.
The man began sweating at the playful girl's demeanor but he hardened himself.
"Please save our country!" He demanded while prostrating himself and bowing.
Maro blinked.
"Huh?"
----------------------------------------
"So…you want us to save you from your abusive king?" Maro asked hesitantly, a bit surprised that someone was so freely asking her for help.
Grim and Reaper must have been really scary, hardly anyone ever asked them for help and it was never this bold!
"That's right," the old man, who introduced himself as Jun, confirmed. "King Hikari earned his position unfairly and we never approved of it. Unfortunately, he's surrounded by an army and we have no means to attack him," he finished before coughing violently.
"Our island has been suffering for years under his rule and nearly all the resources go to him...please, I'm begging you to save us," Jun was near tears as he finished.
"I'm not a fighter and I don't like any of you, so I'll pass," Angel said uncaringly, making him flinch at her harshness.
Maro had to commend Angel for being so decisive because she herself, was seriously conflicted.
The teen had seen how much everyone was struggling on this island and her heart went out to them but she didn't know if she should help them out.
"Um...hold on let me talk to my Master about this…" Maro told the old man who's eyes widened at the revelation that the bluenette had someone to refer to.
Was there actually another one as strong as her?
"O-of course, where are they?"
"He should be here any minute…," Maro said, before activating the connection between her and Rosan.
"Master?" She called.
"Yes, Maro?" Rosan replied immediately.
"Could you come here? I wanna discuss something with you," she said hesitantly.
"Okay."
With that, the connection shut and Maro nervously waited for Rosan to appear.
----------------------------------------
Rosan glanced blankly at the group of people there. Upon his arrival, the nervous energy seemed to only amplify.
An old man was looking between him and Angel and his face morphed into one of dread.
Ah, she must have left a good impression on them all.
Demon stifled a laughter as he caught the old man's look as well.
"Master!" The subject of his thoughts greeted and he instinctively held open his arms to grab his fellow redhead.
"I trust you two had quite the eventful day so far," Rosan asked and Angel scowled for a moment, glaring at a little girl who was hugging Maro's leg.
"That little rat stole my purse and Maro won't let me hurt her," the redhead said, glaring at Maro now. The bluenette shrunk under her gaze and nervously waved at Rosan.
"I'll speed you up on what's happening Master," Maro said and Rosan nodded.
As she retold her tale, the two other inhabitants of the White Rose listened intently.
"This checks out with what I told you Master," Demon said and he held his chin in contemplation.
"You were also right about everything else you said…" The purple haired sounded impressed.
"Naturally," their leader said, before fixing Maro with his dual eyes.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Why?" Rosan asked suddenly and Maro stumbled a bit at the abrupt question.
"Why what, Master?" She asked in return and Rosan tilted his head.
"Why should I help these people? What do I gain from helping them?" He asked in succession and both Demon and Angel went quiet in confusion.
This was odd of Rosan…
"I don't understand…," Maro mumbled in confusion.
The Mod Mod no Mi user stared at her for a moment before glancing at all the onlookers.
"Didn't I tell you? I'm no hero. I'm not going to help some people out of the goodness of my heart unless it benefits me in some way. So let me ask you again, what reason do I have for helping these people?"
Maro was stumped. She kinda knew this was going to be Rosan's answer so why did she feel the need to consult him in the first place?
"Well...I guess you're right," she said softly causing everyone there to slump in defeat. "There really isn't much of a reason to help them."
The bluenette felt the small girl clutching her and remembered a time when she was in the exact same position. When she was so so weak and tiny and she needed to resort to stealing nonstop just to not go hungry.
"But…I want to help these people," Maro said softly and all the onlookers snapped their gaze towards the bluenette. "I don't want them to suffer under the hand of someone like the King, Master!" The Oni declared resolutely and her orange eyes stared into his red and purple own.
The crowd gasped as she stood up for them and they began looking at the strange girl in wonder.
"Is that your reasoning? Because you want to?" Rosan asked softly and Maro hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"W-we can help patch them up and make them useful for us in the future! We can set up like a base here or another potential trade route! We're still in the North Blue so i-if we can get an ally like Fregate —."
"That's enough," Rosan interrupted and her mouth shut in surprise and he beckoned his group to follow him to an isolated area away from listening ears. They obediently followed him and waited patiently for his words.
"You are kind," Rosan began and Maro flinched at the memory those words brought her. Of when she hadn't been able to kill someone and not being good enough
"I didn't realize it until recently, but you do not have a life outside of me and that is my fault," the redhead said softly.
Demon and Angel eyes widened curiously at the direction of the conversation.
"Maro, you have become over reliant on me and I'm sorry for that," Rosan said bluntly and her eyes widened at his words.
What was he...?
"I neglected your wants and your desires in the pursuit of turning you into my weapon but instead, you became a reliable partner to me. Unfortunately, my methods have left you with a deep dependency on me and I'm the one who caused it."
The bluenette wanted to protest but Rosan shushed her and so, she let him continue.
"The reason I asked you these questions is because I want you to have your own beliefs. It's true that I don't want to help these people but I know that you do and I wanted you to realize that just because I don't want to do something, you don't have to share my opinion," the heterochromia explained quietly.
"If I had emotions, I have no doubt that I would care for you deeply because I care about you now," he admitted and Maro felt tears welling into her eyes at his statement.
"Rosan…," Mod said in awe and she felt her heart pound at the revelation that he cared for Maro.
"M-Master…," Maro uttered simply.
"I am sorry for what I did to you Maro. I took advantage of your conditions and raised you into a valuable asset, but at the cost of you yourself."
Angel and Demon listened to the conversation with unreadable expressions but on the inside, they were a torrent of emotions.
Rosan was growing up in his own ways.
"Master, don't apologize to me!" Maro demanded with tears brimming the edge of her eyes. "Everything you've said, none of that matters to me except for the fact that you gave me a new life!"
"So I may be a bit dependent on you? I don't care! I can grow past that especially now that you pointed it out. You say your sorry for what you did to me but you were only trying to protect me!"
"You're right, I am kind and you knew that firsthand," Maro said softly and Rosan paused to regard her. "That's why you were so harsh with me on that day right? You didn't want anyone to take advantage of my kindness."
"Yes, that's correct," Rosan confirmed. "I wanted you to build a wall around your heart so that not just anyone could take advantage of you."
"And I appreciate that more than you could imagine because it worked! If you never did that, who knows what could have happened to me?" Maro asked before taking a deep breath.
"I love you, Master and I don't want you to think that you failed me because you did the exact opposite. Even now, you are trying to help me grow as a person!"
"You love me?" Rosan asked and Maro confirmed without hesitation.
"Of course I do, you idiot!"
"Of course, how silly of me," Rosan said softly and he seemingly came to a decision right then and there. Angel and Demon smiled at the touching scene and Ram had to support a teary eyed Mod.
"You understand that we are here as Maro and Rosan, not Grim and Reaper so we will fight with that knowledge in mind," Rosan explained to her and her eyes widened.
"So you'll help?!" She asked excitedly and Rosan nodded.
"I will and I have just one request," the Mod Mod no mi user said, much to Maro's confusion. Angel and Demon as well raised a brow at that.
"What is it?" Maro asked curiously.
"When we're done liberating this island, I want you, Angel, and Demon to stay here."
----------------------------------------
"WHAT?!" Angel roared in disbelief at what she just heard.
"Master?! What are you talking about…?" Demon said in shocked confusion at his words.
"…" Mod and Ram opted to stay silent.
"M-Master?" Maro stammered quietly. "W-What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I said. I want you to become their Queen, Maro," Rosan informed them softly, looking at all 3 of his companions.
"But what does that have to do with Demon and I?!" Angel demanded furiously. "Don't think you can just push us away as you please, Master!"
"I have caused all 3 of you nothing but stress," Rosan suddenly said and it shocked them into silence. "I never intended for the 3 of you to rely so strongly on me. It's gotten to the point where my suffering, has caused you all to suffer."
"The life I live is dangerous and so I want you all to live a life that doesn't solely rely on me," he said truthfully, as he stared at his hand.
"If I die, what will happen to you 3, who cannot live without me?" The teen asked rhetorically and their silence was all the answer he needed.
"Since the moment I've created you two, you've only known me and if you were merely clones of me, that would be acceptable. But you two aren't just clones of me. You two share my face but are completely different people."
"Demon is kind and gentle and he wants to pursue a path of medicine in honor of Meiko. You are a good person and you have been afraid of me for most of your life," Rosan said bluntly, causing Demon to flinch.
"Angel you are haughty and confident. You won't let anyone tell you what to do if you don't want to do it. When Meiko died, you nearly tore yourself apart from the stress of Demon and I and you made a promise to save me at all costs that I didn't ask you to make."
Angel's jaw dropped at his statement. "You... You're talking about the day you found me crying aren't you...?" She whispered and he nodded. S-So he had wanted to separate them for that long?
"Maro, I don't want you to only be Grim, the faithful partner of Reaper."
The bluenette's eyes widened in realization. "You've been planning to split up Grim and Reaper for a while now, haven't you?" Maro said quietly and the hurt in her voice was unmistakable.
"That's right," Rosan confirmed. "You are 13, I cannot have you confined to me for the rest of your life. That is not living," he explained quietly.
"You 3 are young. I want you all to grow in an environment that doesn't have me as your leader in it. You are all humans, not slaves to Rosan."
"Angel and Demon. Maro needs you far more than I do. She can't rule this country alone and you two are both capable of assisting her," Rosan said, facing the two that he created. Since the moment he had seen Angel's resolve, he had made the decision to eventually separate from them. The middle triplet was fully intending to save him no matter the cost and Demon would always support her.
"You two should not be stuck taking orders from me until I die."
The two held their heads at that. He was making too good of a point and they couldn't refute anything.
"Master I don't understand...why are you pushing us away?" Maro asked because that's all it looked like to her. The tears in her eyes began flowing. "Do you not want us anymore."
Rosan stared blankly at her and something in his eyes flickered. "I don't want to do this," the redhead admitted softly and they all flinched.
"But it's necessary. I want you all to grow into your own people who can be separated from Rosan or Reaper," he said quietly.
"Ever since Meiko died, you've all just been trying to fight a losing battle with me and I won't stand here and watch you all eternally dig at walls that refuse to break," Rosan said, referring to his emotions.
They all flinched as they heard that.
"Angel and Demon feel like it's their obligation to make me open up again and you were dragged in it Maro. I can't put that burden on you three anymore."
"Do you want to know why I'm pushing you all away?" Rosan asked and before they could answer, he said, "Because I love you."
"All three of you, I love you and I refuse to let you waste away your lives on someone who has no will to live."
Angel and Demon collapsed at that and Maro felt a bit lightheaded herself.
"All of this...is because you love us?" The Oni asked and Rosan nodded without hesitation.
"Of course. It would be a complete failure of your leader if I continued to let you guys fester in such a toxic environment. You all need something fresh and for it to be fresh, I cannot be there."
His words hurt but they were true. Rosan was their pillar and everything they did, related to him in some way. He understood that more than anyone and he wanted them to gain an identity outside of "Obey Rosan."
"You're a fantastic leader, Master," Maro said suddenly and Rosan bowed his head.
"I disagree, but thank you."
"As much as I hate this, Rosan is right," Mod said. The three reeled at the fact that Mod was agreeing.
"You all deserve this much so if not for him, please do it for me. Live your lives the way Rosan wants you too!" Mod said with a watery smile. It felt like she was allowing her children to fly free.
"Ram and I will take care of Rosan, you can believe us!" The Devil Fruit told them all with full confidence.
"Of course we will! It's my duty to protect Father," Ram said and though she sounded ever confident, her voice was far more subdued.
"Even Master Mod agrees," Demon said and he finally began contemplating it.
"It's not like I'm going to disappear off the face of the planet," Rosan explained.
"This island needs a lot of work and I will assist in making it as prosperous as I made Fregate."
"He just wants the best for you all and right now, he's not what's best," Mod continued.
"It's okay to worry for Father, of course it is. But worrying for Father dominates you guys to an unhealthy level and he knows that more than anyone," Ram said.
"You guys will be able to see me whenever you want, I've already placed a Save Point on Maro's tiara," Rosan finished.
"Promise you'll visit often," Angel whispered and Demon and Maro's gaze snapped to the girl.
Angel was the most attached to Rosan! For her to be the first one to come to terms with it, spoke volumes and it had them finally come to terms with it themselves.
"I promise," Rosan said without hesitation and Angel let out a choked sob.
"I'm sorry Master for treating you in such a negative light," Demon said sadly.
"I'm sorry for not trying to fix it right away," Rosan countered and the purple haired clone teared up.
"I'm gonna miss traveling with you a ton, Master," Maro said quietly with tears falling.
"This is not the end Maro. One day we will travel together again because you are Grim, the faithful partner of Reaper."
Rosan let them all cry and he cut the connection. They made their way back to the confused crowd and they all tensed at the sight of the intimidating redhead.
"Maro and I will deal with your king," the redhead declared, making them all gasp in shock. "In return, I ask that you comply with the decision to make Maro your queen of the, soon to be, vacant throne."
The crowd, after hearing Maro's touching declaration just earlier, roared their agreement without hesitation, much to the shock of the blue haired Oni.
"Anyone who is injured, speak to the purple haired boy, he will tend to your injuries," Rosan said, pointing at Demon, who waved kindly.
"Anyone who is trying to avoid injury, do not speak to the red haired girl," he warned, pointing at Angel.
Angel flushed at his warning and scowled lightheartedly.
"Let's not waste any time," Rosan said, finished with his instructions. "Maro, let's go and turn you into a usurper."
"Right!" She declared as she cracked her knuckles.
"T-thank you sir, ma'am," the crowd bowed lowly.
"There is no need to call me sir," Rosan said calmly. "I am only 14."
"Please don't call me ma'am," Maro said, looking vexed. "I'm 13! Not 23!"
The crowd heard that and reacted in the only way they knew how.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
----------------------------------------
Maro, after finally tangling that little girl off of her, and Rosan assessed the castle before them.
"This is going to be your castle," Rosan said idly and Maro snorted at that.
"It's ugly can you modify it for me?" She asked, not taking the situation serious at all.
"Yes, do you want it to be blue and white?" The boy said idly, ignoring the flood of people pouring out of it.
"You're so considerate!" Maro gushed happily.
"Should I modify the amount of rooms as well so that you and Angel are forced to sleep together?"
"I take it back, you're mean," Maro said bluntly, blush painting her face.
"STOP IGNORING US!" The crowd roared in anger and Rosan side eyed them.
"I've never seen a group of people so eager to die~," the bluenette hummed with a smile on her face and she promptly summoned Daisy. The girl tapped her earrings and after a bright glow, she was decked in her battle dress.
"Death is odd. Some run from it, others welcome it. This bunch seems to be apart of the 2nd half," the redhead commented and he transformed Ram into his gloves. His armband expanded and smoothly covered his body in his raid outfit.
"Let's give them a performance," Rosan whispered idly, as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
"Bow to your new queen!" Maro demanded with a grin, as her skin hue began turning green.
"It's the first time we're fighting as Maro and Rosan!" The Oni said through their connection and she was shaking in excitement.
"That's true, I guess I can show you how Rosan fights," the computer teen told her and she began shaking even harder.
Without any warning, Rosan extended his hand and shot out a compressed blast of energy that collided with the floor in front of the army. Those caught in the immediate blast were killed instantly and the others near were sent flying.
"Overwhelm," Rosan said with glowing eyes and he shot off.
Maro loved her Master.
With a toothy grin, the Dokkaebi shot off as well, already in her hybrid zoan form.
Everyone who saw Maro's sudden transformation paled in fear at the realization that they were fighting a Devil Fruit user. Some tried to run, but a pillar of blues flames surrounded the entire area, preventing escape.
"Running is no fun! It makes my job harder when I have to search for you," Maro complained, as her club ignited with similar blue flames.
"Just stay here and die fighting!"
The 13 year old slammed her club into one of the bandits and set the burning man flying into a group of people. With a flick of her hand, those flames expanded and consumed everyone who were unlucky enough to be in the pile.
She grinned as her battle dress protected her from the hail of bullets and the girl charged the offenders responsible for that. Everyone standing in her way, got bulldozed by her monstrous strength and she tanked every attack launched at her.
Maro grabbed one of the shooters guns and bent it with sheer strength, making it unusable. She then grabbed the screeching shooter himself and launched him into another shooter. The girl utilized the Raid Suit's boots and jumped high into the air, only to land and crush the both of them underneath her.
"I see you've picked up Rosan's habit of stomping on people," Mod said in faint amusement and Maro cackled as she caught a charging figure in one hand and body slammed him, breaking every bone in his body.
"I can see why he does it so much, it's really fun!" She cheered as she glanced over at Rosan.
Her leader was a whirlwind of carnage as he mowed through them all. Maro watched in awe at the proficiency the boy displayed with every weapon.
Rosan parried a swipe of a sword with his black gauntlets before transforming the tips of them into long spikes and stabbing them through the offenders neck. He removed the weapon from the man's throat and whirled around to his next target.
Mid whirl, his gauntlets transformed into a long silver naginata that he used to cut cleanly through a person. The boy expertly ignored his screeching and transformed the pole of his weapon into a black and silver chain.
Gripping the chain of the kusarigama, Rosan began spinning the weapon rapidly and he disappeared in a blur. His actions were soon made clear as the screaming began.
The redhead literally mowed through the people with the chained sickle and Maro winced in sympathy, dropping the limp body in her grasp.
"It's impossible to have a valid strategy against Master," The Oni said in awe. The speed that he changed his weapons was incredible and no one could properly prepare for that.
It was utterly overwhelming!
Rosan stopped after annihilating a majority of the army and he appeared in their visions again. The boy once again transformed Ram but this time, he picked a purple sniper of all things.
He used his enhanced sneakers and took to the sky. Everyone knew what was about to happen next and they tried to run but it was for naught.
Rosan's vision and aim were perfect.
The teens sniper was using the energy that Germa used. As a result, one bullet tore through a person's body like they were made of wet tissue.
Maro's jaw dropped at the power behind the sniper. One shot looked like it was being shot out of a cannon.
"I never thought I'd say this...but I'd rather fight Reaper," Maro said with a bead of sweat.
"Rosan limits himself as much as possible as Reaper so as to not give any hints on who is under that identity," Mod explained calmly, utterly unperturbed. "Due to this, Reaper is much less versatile than he is. Imagine when he starts freely using Modification!"
Maro shuddered.
Master was a real monster.
Rosan landed gently besides her, sniper back in it's ring form. "Hm, that was lackluster," the redhead said softly.
"Isn't it always? You fighting like this is even scarier then Reaper," Maro muttered.
"Thank you," Rosan said and she sweatdropped.
"That wasn't a compliment —," Maro began but the earth shuddering made her pause.
"Oh?" Rosan said with a tilted head as he looked in the direction of the noise.
"So this must be the reason no one can challenge King Hikari," Maro said with a raised brow at the newly revealed figure.
They were gigantic, standing at a solid 10 ft, with a wild mane of brown hair and a scruffy beard. Beady black eyes stared at them lazily but that went slightly alert at the sight of all their fallen allies.
"Wow, he's tall," Maro pointed out, not looking remotely afraid at the man who dwarfed her.
"Very much so," Rosan confirmed blankly staring at his next opponent.
"Do you think he'll be able to handle our onslaught?" The Dokkaebi asked in amusement.
"Of course not," the Computer teen replied immediately. "You know the saying, the bigger they are —,"
"The more fun it is to crush em!" Maro exclaimed in excitement and the girl transformed into her full Zoan. The girl shot up a solid foot in height (6'9) and her short blue hair lengthened and turned pure white, as she transformed into her monstrous Dokkaebi.
The Goblin girl thought about summoning a wave of flames but that would be too easy! She wanted to have a little fun!
Rosan was content to watch her have a bit of fun. The both of them were overkill anyways.
Maro collided with the tall man's body, causing a struggle between the two to ensue. Much to the taller man's surprise, the Dokkaebi easily overpowered him and body slammed him to the pavement.
He grunted in shock as Maro effortlessly picked him up by one leg and began slamming him over and over again.
"You created this," Mod told Rosan and the boy nodded.
"I'm proud, I have nothing to worry about," the teen responded as he watched the green Dokkaebi spin the man around by one leg repeatedly and launch him. He crashed into the castle wall with a sickening thud.
Much to their surprise, he was not knocked unconscious from the beat down and he slowly got back up.
"You're boring but you can take a beating so that's pretty fun," Maro rumbled as the, slow man roared and charged her.
"You must have gotten dropped on the head as a baby…" the white haired goblin muttered as she just stood there and watched the approaching target.
The man swung down violently at Maro, only to blink in confusion as his hand went right through her.
"Right here~," The goblin waved to the left of where he swung. The tall idiot roared again and swung at the illusion once more, only to be left gaping in surprise once more at hitting nothing.
"Man...I really think you're just a trophy to show off," Maro grumbled behind him and she hoisted Daisy up. The club began burning with blue flames as she prepared to wrap this up but it didn't stop there. The flames grew larger and larger until it looked as if the enlarged club was made out of fire.
The Dokkaebi tensed her muscles as she prepared to swing.
"Spiritual Cleansing," Maro said and she slammed Daisy into the 10ft tall man like he were a baseball.
He didn't stand a chance. The man was killed on impact and his burning body soared through the air before landing with a thud on the floor.
"You were right, Master," Maro commented turning back to normal and marveling at how her clothes so easily changed with the Oni. "That was lackluster."
"Unfortunately, all the people worth a fight are in the Grand Line," Rosan commented and Maro sighed.
"I'll have to visit that sea when I'm older then!" She declared and Ram snorted in amusement.
"That's the spirit!" The weapon said proudly.
The two were about to enter the castle, but the surprise presence of another person gave them pause and they gauged the newcomer with a curious gaze.
It was a tall, pale man (about 6'2) with long black hair and piercing, stormy grey eyes. He wore an all blue suit with a white undershirt and black dress shoes. He didn't seem to have any visible weapons but his utterly relaxed demeanor after looking at the carnage the two invaders did, was cause for concern.
"You two have caused quite the mess," he began conversationally and he didn't move his body at all as Rosan shot a bullet through him with zero hesitation. Maro watched with a sense of dread as the man's head seemingly exploded in a mess of brown, before reforming as if nothing happened.
"I'm Hibiki," the man introduced himself, not seeming to mind that he had just gotten shot. "I just received a call from the King that we had a couple of intruders but you both look pretty young. I have a son around your age so I don't really want to do this but, you did just shoot me without hesitation."
"A logia," Rosan thought simply. That was not good. The redhead still had no means to attack one.
"Fuck," Maro said wearily. Things were never meant to be easy, huh?
----------------------------------------
Hibiki had the Tsuchi Tsuchi no mi. He was an earth man and damn, he used that fact to give them hell. It was now very clear to see why no one had been able to challenge the king.
The ground erupted beneath the two in a mess of spikes and they both darted in separate directions. Maro lobbed a fireball at him and he didn't even bother dodging it, letting it sail through his intangible body.
She growled in annoyance. "What do we do?!" They were clearly stronger and faster than him but they couldn't touch him and that seriously pissed her off.
"...I still have no method to hit Logia's. We're at a disadvantage here," Rosan admitted and they were forced to jump over a giant wall of earth that was going to bury them.
This was bad. This was really bad. How were they supposed to win?! This was so bullshit!
"We're at a bit of a standstill here," Hibiki pointed out casually. He was well aware that they were stronger than him but as long as they couldn't touch him, it didn't matter.
"Fuck you," Maro snarled, smashing a pillar that tried to pierce her. She was currently in her hybrid form so she could better utilize her speed against the onslaught of the earth man. This was ridiculous! Were they just supposed to dodge nonstop until one or the other got tired?! That's all they had been doing this entire fucking fight and it was really pissing her off.
Rosan stared at his opponent with a blank expression. He jumped over a pillar and contorted his body to dodge a rock bullet shot from Hibiki. He transformed Ram into a double barrel pistol and tried shooting the man and it expectantly failed.
How did people deal with Logias? This wasn't making any sense. Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom were considered to be the strongest pirates in the world and none of them had Logias. On the contrary, the three admirals did have Logias but yet they never tried to attack those pirates... Was it simply because of their crews? No, there had to be something he was missing.
How were they able to deal with Logias? Rosan needed to find out this key detail because right now, they were the most annoying type of people to deal with.
"I wish I could help more but I'm not sure myself..." Mod muttered. It was something she had mulled about for a long time but the Devil Fruit had reached no answer.
The redhead didn't want to admit it, but they couldn't defeat this man. There was no way to touch him but he could touch them... they needed to retreat and think of something else —
Maro's gasp stopped him dead in his tracks and he tensed his muscles at the sight he saw. She was rooted to her spot and could only stare with wide eyes as a very sharp pillar careened towards her.
No, not again. Not if he could help it.
"Boost x2."
Maro had messed up. In her anger, she didn't notice the ground beneath her getting softer and the 12 year old had gotten caught by quicksand. Now there was spike flying towards her and she really didn't want that to pierce her. Maybe she could angle her body in a way where her left side tanked the attack? It would be hard but she could do that and then displace herself.
Rosan suddenly appeared in her vision and her eyes widened in dread. W-what was he d-doing?!
Her heart dropped as the spike pierced him right through his stomach and he grasped it with both hands. "Modify: Form," he bit out, despite having a hole in his belly and the spiked rock vanished from his application of modification. The teen fell on his knees with way too much blood pouring right now.
Maro immediately displaced herself and grabbed the collapsing boy in horror. She cloaked the both of them in her invisibility and hastily dragged him away.
Hibiki was content to remain there until they showed themselves again.
"Master, why the fuck did you do that?!" Maro hissed in terror, there was a lot of blood right now and it was causing her to panic.
"It's fine, I ate the philosopher's stone," Rosan grunted, spitting out a glob of blood and the hole began closing up before her very eyes.
"Answer my question!" She barked with angry tears in her eyes.
"You're my student, it's my job to keep you safe. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you were seriously injured while I could stop it," Rosan answered her, closing his eyes tiredly. "It seems that the more severe the injury that is healed, the more energy I drain."
Maro's mouth opened in disbelief at his honest answer and she stared at her Master with tears flowing. She knew he'd be fine but damn it he scared her. Jumping in the way for her of all people! D-Did Master actually care about her that much?
"We can't beat that man," Rosan informed her. "But we won't be retreating."
"W-We won't?" Maro asked in confusion. Did he have a plan? How were they supposed to beat him?
Rosan dragged himself back to his feet and Maro caught the stumbling teen. "Y-You're not going out there again, are you?!" She gaped at the insane teen.
"Yes, I am not letting you fight him alone. We just need to stall him until my order."
She nodded reluctantly and the two made their way back to the Logia user standing guard of the castle. He looked at Rosan with a surprised expression on his face.
"But how?" Hibiki muttered in confusion before shrugging it off. "There's no shame in retreating, children. You may be stronger than me but I have the advantage now. You two don't have to kill yourselves."
"Vindication." Rosan held his gloved hands out and prepped up a massive beam of energy. After it reached a sufficient size he released it and the attack split off into smaller beams that rushed for Hibiki.
Like it had been going the entire fight, the attack phased harmlessly through their opponents body and he shook his head. They were just going to be repeating the same song and dance until one ran out of energy.
"Landslide," Hibiki said and a massive wall of earth began tumbling towards the duo. It started off slow but began to quickly pick up in speed.
Maro and Rosan both jumped over the attack but the redhead got nicked and he was partially hit by the attack.
"Rosan, are you okay?!" Mod asked in worry. He was much more sluggish then normal but her charge went into battle anyways. This boy never thought about losing a battle, no matter his condition.
"I'm fine." Rosan tested the leg that got clipped and found that it was probably dislocated. His leg was healing but he couldn't put pressure on it while it was doing so.
"Master are you sure you can keep going?" Maro was practically gnawing her teeth in worry. Rosan was noticeably faster than her so the fact that she escaped the attack and he didn't, was making her nervous.
Rosan was about to answer but he paused and nodded. "We don't need to fight anymore unless this fails."
"Huh?" Maro asked intelligently. What had he been planning?
"Hibiki-san," Rosan called and the man paused in his onslaught to regard the teen curiously. "I think you should stop attacking us and start listening to our demands."
The Logia raised a brow at the audacity of the boy before him. "Why would I do that —
"Rin."
Hibiki froze completely. How... How did he know that...?
Rosan extended his hand and made his palm face the sky.
What the man saw, made his blood go cold. It was some type of footage of a purple haired teen, that looked exactly like the redhead before him talking to someone. But that wasn't the issue.
No, the issue was that the purple haired teen was having a seemingly friendly conversation with his son, Rin. They were both laughing at something and his 12 year old son was rather red faced at the moment.
"I'm sure you can probably tell already, but that is my ally, Demon," Rosan informed him softly. "When you carelessly shared information about having a son, I figured I'd have him ask these loving citizens about where you lived. They were more than willing to share the location and Demon decided to go there."
Hibiki couldn't believe that the teen had used one throwaway comment to do this.
Rosan stared without a shred of emotion in his gaze. "I've had another of my allies prepare a boat for you. You will get on it and you will sail away from this island. If you don't obey me, Demon will snap your son's neck."
Maro couldn't believe what Rosan was doing right now. She regarded her Master in disbelief. T-This was really underhanded!
"We have no choice, Maro. We can't beat him at the moment and a prolonged battle will only result in us getting further injured. It may be evil but I will do whatever it takes."
The bluenette nodded hesitantly and dropped it.
Hibiki knew that the boy was not bluffing. If he didn't listen to his demands, his son would die and these two could just flee again. He wouldn't even be able to properly exact his revenge.
"If...If I leave, will my son's life be guaranteed?" Hibiki asked. He loved his son too much, he would never forgive himself if harm befell his way.
"You have my word that no harm will befall your son as long as you leave," Rosan assured him and the man closed his eyes in resignation.
"...Okay. I'll leave but please don't kill my son."
"Of course, I'm not a liar."
Rosan tested his foot and nodded in satisfaction, then he and Maro escorted the man to the ship that Angel had prepared. His face was utterly unfazed by what he was doing.
"You sure are efficient, Master," Maro said quietly.
"It's his fault for working with someone that is so hated. He would have been a good ally," Rosan replied.
"W-Would?" The Oni asked but Rosan didn't reply.
Hibiki glanced at the ship with an unreadable look in his eye and after looking at the cold exterior of Rosan and realizing his hands were tied, he stepped on it. The hired bodyguard unfurled the sails. He was surprised to see the ship moving so quickly without any strong winds but he just chalked it up to that demonic redhead.
"So once we kill the king, he won't have any reason to fight us anymore..." Maro mused and Rosan said nothing for a moment. They stared at the sailing ship vanishing into the distance and the redhead closed his eyes.
Finally, the boy snapped them open and Maro flinched at the slits. "As long as we can't beat him officially, he will always pose a threat. Especially after we threatened his son," he informed her and his draconic wings burst from his back.
"M-Master...?" Maro whispered but Rosan took off from his spot.
Hibiki hadn't missed the boys wording. Only his son's life was guaranteed but the redhead had never included Hibiki himself. So, he wasn't surprised in the slightest to see the floating figure looking down at him from above.
He closed his eyes in acceptance and couldn't even muster up the rage to fight back. He was in the middle of the ocean with only this boat and his target was in the sky.
It was over for him.
It was a tiny mistake but this demon had immediately capitalized on it when things were no longer in his favor. "Remember what you promised," was all he said as a brilliant red glow began to shine from above.
Rosan stared at the Logia with an empty gaze as his attack charged. "Rin's life is guaranteed."
With those simple words, Rosan let his attack fly and obliterated the ship beneath him. The attack didn't connect with Hibiki but it didn't matter.
The ocean would do the job for him.
"Those were your final wishes, after all," the redhead finished coldly.
Hibiki's eyes rolled to the back of his head as the ocean drained away all his strength and he sunk to the bottom of the sea.
----------------------------------------
"There's only the king left," Rosan said simply and Maro nodded in slight hesitation. She knew that the redhead had killed the man and while she didn't agree with it, she couldn't have found a better solution so she dropped it.
"Master...are you sure about this?" The girl asked timidly. If she knew things were gonna turn out like this, Maro would never had asked Rosan to help these people!
Sure, her heart did go out to them but she didn't want to leave Rosan! He was the one who had given her a purpose. When no one believed in her, the redhead had chosen to and now she was stronger then she could have ever dreamed.
Maro didn't care that he was doing this for her sake. She heard that her Master was a selfish person but this didn't seem very selfish.
The 13 year old wanted him to be selfish right now!
"…," Rosan stared at her for a moment. "Did you know that I wanted to be the strongest in the world at one point?" The redhead asked suddenly and Maro blinked in confusion before shaking her head no.
"Yes, I wanted to be the strongest in the world so no one would even think about messing with my loved ones. I was very ambitious and not much people could match it," The 14 year old admitted and Maro's eyes widened at that revelation.
"Believe it or not, since meeting you I haven't trained nearly as hard as I used to because that's not my goal at the moment."
"My goal is to find a new reason to live and that is not a goal you three need to be involved in," Rosan said softly. "I don't want you guys to go with me on my potentially dangerous journey."
"But, we're strong Master...," Maro said quietly, not understanding.
"Yes Maro, we're strong. You and I, but not Angel and Demon," Rosan retorted, making her gasp in realization.
"Meiko died because I am Reaper," Rosan said calmly and he closed eyes at the memory. "There are so much things I could have done differently that day but the bottom line, is that my infamy got her killed."
"I don't want you to go through that feeling with Angel. You love her and I don't want you to go through what I did," he explained.
"Protect her with everything and keep her safe, Maro. Don't become me," he finished and his empty red and purple eyes stared into her saddened orange.
"You're doing this for our relationship…?" Maro said and the wonder in her eyes at her Master's words were clear.
"Yes, being Grim is risky and though the people in the Blue Seas are weak, there is always the chance of a sleeping giant who doesn't appreciate our actions. Just one Logia, who wasn't even stronger than us caused us this much trouble," the redhead explained and the bluenettes eyes softened.
Rosan wanted to protect what they had. The teen didn't want anyone he cared about to go through what he went through and it made Maro finally give in fully to his demands.
The redhead wasn't pushing them away, he just wanted them to have their budding relationship with no regrets.
She engulfed the taller teen in a hug and muttered into his chest, "You better visit us whenever you can."
He returned the hug and she sighed as his strong arms wrapped around her. Master was warm to the touch and she spent many nights falling asleep in his comforting grasp.
"Of course, I care for you all and I don't want completely disappear from your lives. I just want you all to live a more stable one, away from me," he answered truthfully.
"Settle down, get married, adopt a child," Rosan said and Maro blushed scarlet.
"Angel is never going to adopt," the girl said, giving up on trying to avoid it.
"You'll find a way around it," the redhead said simply and the Oni blushed deeper.
"I've got a couple ideas…but that's for the future!" She stammered and the bluenette eyed Rosan for a long time before almost fainting.
Mod burst out laughing as Rosan and Ram tilted their heads.
"G-go capture that king," the Devil Fruit said in between laughter and Maro really did love Mod for helping her out of these situations so often.
"Isn't it funny," Rosan said suddenly and Maro tilted her head questioningly at him. "You told me you'd become my best supporter yet and now your about to be Queen."
The girl blushed at the callback to that conversation before puffing up. "I'm not a liar Master, you taught me that! I meant what I said and I'm not done yet! You'll be in awe at what I'm doing in the future!" She declared, before pausing.
"Also, Queen makes me sound old and I'm only 13! I'd rather be called a Princess!" She complained with a puff of her cheeks and Rosan nodded.
"The Goblin Princess," Rosan hummed. "That is a good moniker."
Maro tested it on her lips and grinned widely. "I like it! I hope it sticks!" She beamed.
"It will after you make an example of the King," Rosan informed her and the girl laughed.
"Well, what are we waiting for then!" The Oni grinned ferociously and she cracked her neck.
----------------------------------------
"Y-you can't do this to me!"
King Hikari was a short, stout man who clearly enjoyed eating a little too much. He was currently being dragged by a very annoyed Maro and he panicked the whole way.
"I'm the rightful king of this land and there will be consequences to what you're doing to me!" The pudgy black haired man roared and Maro just glanced back at him.
"Who's gonna deliver it? You? Are you strong? Should we fight? I don't think you can fight…," the bluenette said in rapid succession and the man began quivering at the look in her eyes.
"No! My Soldiers —."
"Are all dead," Rosan interrupted calmly directing those blank eyes of his to the fallen king. "Even your secret Logia weapon."
"Why do you think no one is stopping us from dragging your fat ass around," Maro snorted in amusement.
"W-what do you want?" The King stammered. If they were able to kill Hibiki, no one stood a chance against them. "Riches? Food? Woman?! I c-can have them all delivered to you!" He said, trying to bribe them unsuccessfully.
"Speaking of woman… aren't you the one who sent a bunch of losers to hit on Angel, the redhead girl?" Maro snarled suddenly and she bared her sharpened canines at the man.
Hikari paled as he saw her skin hue begin to turn green.
"She's my little sister you know?" Rosan said softly and he nearly fainted as a small amount of pressure crashed into him. "She's too young for you to be directing such perverted intentions towards her."
"Y-young? How old is she? How old are you two…?!" The king looked increasingly.
"She's 14. I'm 14," Rosan said bluntly.
"I'm 13!" Maro sneered and the man paled dramatically.
"I-I d-didn't know!" Hikari stammered. How could that possibly be his fault? The redhead was tall, mature, and was wearing an expensive outfit! She was one of the most gorgeous people he had ever seen and so he wanted her for himself.
"Something tells me, you've completely missed the point," Maro snarled and he flinched in terror.
"You do not have the rights to anyone just because of your status," Rosan said softly.
"Don't you call all of us yours?" Maro said suddenly with a raised brow, ignoring the king momentarily.
"Is that not true? All of you belong to me," Rosan said matter-of-factly, causing Mod and Maro to sweatdrop.
"Rosan is rather possessive. You should have seen him when he was younger," the woman informed Maro.
"I would love to meet Master with personality. He sounds like such a fun person to be around," Maro gushed at the thought of her aloof Master being completely chaotic.
"I don't see the issue Auntie! Everything should rightfully belong to Father," Ram declared, only to get her cheek pinched.
"You are such a problematic person Ram! I'm so glad only people connected to Rosan can hear your thoughts!" Mod complained.
"Interesting," Rosan suddenly said, making them all raise a brow in curiosity. "Something just occurred to me. Couldn't I use RAM to turn Ram into a —
"Please just let me go!" The king interrupted their conversation unintentionally, making all the girls there snarl.
Maro transformed into her full Zoan, with the man still in her hand and said "Shut. The. Fuck. Up."
King Hikari almost went comatose, as he was forced to look into the glowing orange sclera of this monstrous green Oni. The grip that they had on her was unnaturally strong and the sharp claws drew blood.
He quivered and wisely shut up.
Maro, still in her zoan, began dragging him even easier than before.
"What were you saying, Master?" Maro asked and Rosan hummed.
"I will discuss it in detail more when I've thought it out fully," he informed them and Maro nodded before glaring at the King again.
Stupid idiot for interrupting her Master.
----------------------------------------
"People of Celadon!" Maro called to the massive crowd in front of her, using the island's name.
"For too long have you all been suffering under the hands of an abusive, incompetent king who has brought your land to ruin," the blue haired girl began, getting a nod of agreement out of a majority of them.
"But no more! Today, this man right here —," she pointed at the tied up Hikari, who was struggling in his ropes "—Will finally earn his judgment from your new Princess, me!"
The crowd roared as they heard that and Hikari paled.
"For his crimes against you people, I sentence the Fallen King, Hikari Juro, to execution by flames," Maro finished gravely and the onlookers gasped in excitement.
The Dokkaebi turned towards the former king with a small smile on her fair face. That smile turned into a full blown grin at the sorry state of Hikari. Her abnormally sharp canines gleamed, as her arm was surrounded in blue flames.
"Spring Cleaning," Maro said simply and she placed a palm on the top of his head. The flames made their way down his body slowly and the screams of pain would be etched into the minds of the people for years to come.
This was to show them that not only would Maro protect them, if they dared to cross her, the same thing would happen to them.
Soon, it was as if Hikari was being bathed by the flames and the roar of fire covered his screaming. After what seemed like a millennia, the screams stopped and the charred body of the King fell over.
"It's been far to long since you have all had anything," Maro said seriously. "But that was before I showed up. I will make this land the most prosperous in the North Blue and I need you all to support my goal."
"For you people, who have had nothing, I will give you something."
The girl transformed into her full Dokkaebi form and the people yelped in shock. "My name is Maro and I am the Goblin Princess!" She roared deeply.
The crowd, who had been stunned silent by her speech, found their energy and roared to the heavens along with her.
"MARO, MARO, MARO, MARO, MARO, MARO, MARO!" They cheered in sync.
"She's been taking lessons from you. That speech was very Rosan-esque," Mod said proudly with a slow applause. The Rosan family were currently hidden behind the girl as she gave the speech.
"I'm impressed," Ram grinned sharply at the girl.
"That girl really has grown up since we first met her," Demon said with a kind grin on his face.
"She did tell me that she would be become my best supporter yet," Rosan said softly. "It seems she's taken those words to heart."
Angel stared at Maro's form with an unreadable look in her eye and Rosan caught it.
"Don't deny your feelings," their leader said and Angel blushed at his bluntness. "If you really do like Maro the way I think you do, don't run away from them."
"Life is too sudden for you to reject the things you want. Even I know that much."
Angel's eyes softened at his words and though she said nothing, Rosan knew his clones well enough to know that she was seriously contemplating his words.
"Demon, how is Rin?" Rosan asked his purple haired teen.
"Not good, he's crying because he thinks his dad has abandoned him. I promised that I would keep him safe from everyone though and he likes me so it'll be fine," Demon informed him and the redhead nodded.
It was harsh but necessary and so, Rosan didn't allow those thoughts to plague him.
The redhead directed his gaze back to Maro.
His only intentions for her had been purely selfish. Her only purpose was for him to get a new weapon and to see if she could interest him enough for his emotions to unlock.
Somewhere along the lines though, Maro became more than that. She stopped looking like a pawn to him and began to actually look like a person. A person worth caring for.
Rosan was proud of her.
----------------------------------------
"Remember, you have to visit twice a week, okay?" Angel said, nuzzling her head into the nook of Rosan's neck. The headstrong clone always had a much softer side around her Master and it was in full force right now.
"Okay," Rosan agreed, despite the fact that she did not say that before. He had his arms wrapped around her. The redhead expertly ignored the tears making contact with his body.
They were all currently on the White Rose, gathering their own things. Maro was currently in her room getting all of her clothing and Demon was in the medicine room as well. Rosan had forced him to take all of the things there because he didn't know what to do with them besides the bare minimum.
"When I need a checkup, I'll come to you," Rosan had told the purple haired clone and his eyes glazed over with tears.
"I'm sorry Master, for everything," Demon said and the two shared a rare hug.
"You have nothing to apologize for," Rosan reassured, patting his youngest clone on the head.
Rosan gazed at a brave looking Maro for a moment.
"I'll tell Aiko about this and have her become partners with Celadon as soon as possible," Rosan informed his right hand girl.
"Awesome! If she doesn't wanna use the clones, she can send em my way as well," Maro said confidently. They would be a valuable asset for her in the future.
"She likely will. It's fortunate that you are still in the North Blue, that makes it far easier."
Maro nodded in agreement and fell silent for a moment.
Rosan knew everyone on the ship far too well because he extended his arms for her and she immediately crashed into him with a loud sob.
"T-thank you for everything Master," the 13 year old cried heavily, as she squeezed him tightly. "You changed my life for the better and I'll never forget anything you taught me. When no one saw anything in me, you did and you defended me every step of the way!"
"I-I'll become the Queen of this place and make it better than ever. Grim and Reaper may be done for now but I'll still do everything to be useful to you!" She sobbed and Rosan pat her head.
"I'm proud of you, Maro. Never forget that."
Everyone there froze at the simple declaration.
Rosan...was proud? Of her? Was this real?
Angel covered her mouth as tears began spilling.
Demon hid his face behind his arms as he also began crying.
Maro froze in disbelief as she processed the words. Then she squeezed Rosan with all her heart and began crying even louder than before.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She wailed and Rosan accepted it all easily.
Even the sudden weight of Angel and Demon crashing into him didn't phase the boy. He had expected it.
They shared a group hug for a long while before finally giving their leader some space.
"I will come back soon to help you all rebuild," Rosan said softly. "This island needs a lot of work so map out what needs to be done and call me back."
He handed the girl a Den-Den Mushi, which she readily accepted and they all descended from the ship.
"Be safe Master!" Demon waved enthusiastically, as their long time home set sail.
"Don't forget! 3 times a week!" Angel declared with a wave of her own.
"We love you Master! I hope you can find what you're looking for in the future!" Maro beamed.
"Bye you 3! I really do love you all and we'll visit as often as possible," Mod said and the older woman had definitely not been crying wildly.
"See you! I'll keep Father safe and sound, you don't gotta worry!" Ram exclaimed with a confident grin.
"I love you all too," Rosan said softly but they still heard him and they had to do everything in their power to not cry again.
The White Rose sped up and soon, it was outta their sight.
The 3 sighed to themselves.
They missed Master.
Angel, remembering his words, steeled herself and faced Maro.
"Maro," the redhead called, grabbing her attention. "I like you," she said bluntly and the bluenette froze at those words.
"I... w-wha... h-huh... w-wha," she stammered in disbelief and her face turned as red as Angel's hair.
The twins watched in disbelief as Maro short circuited and the bluenette fainted.
"Was I too forward?" Angel asked in surprise with a sheepish look on her face.
"What do you think?" Demon sighed with a shake of his head.
He really missed Master.
----------------------------------------
"You and Maro separated?!" Aiko asked in shock, as she looked up at the giant teen.
When the hell did Rosan get this tall? He used to barely reach her waist when they first met and now she had to crane her neck to look at him?!
"Yes," Rosan confirmed with a nod of his head and he decided to explain the situation to her.
"What the fuck?" Aiko deadpanned as he finished telling his tale. "So you just...overthrew a king and replaced him with her?" She asked slowly and even Akemi's eyes were wide.
Rosan really did like just putting people in positions of power, huh?
"That's right. Maro is the princess of Celadon now and I want you to ally yourselves with her," Rosan explained calmly.
Aiko, despite her shock, nodded. "Alright that's easy enough. I like the not so little squirt and her Harvest Growth abilities could turn that island into a real monster in the future," she hummed and she began planning what to send them.
The clone production would be good for the new princess. Fregate wasn't really one for fighting but something told her, Maro was going to be a lot different.
Due to Reaper, Fregate was better than it had ever been and it was a hot spot of resources. Aiko didn't imagine Rosan not having a hand in Celadon's growth.
They were going to be a force in some years.
"How do you feel about all of this Rosan?" Akemi asked suddenly getting both their attention. "Surely you must feel some way after separating from her? She's practically your daughter!"
"If I could feel, I'd probably be sad but proud," Rosan said bluntly. "I don't think my decision would have changed. I didn't want her to only be Grim, The Angel's Demon, I wanted her to grow into her own person and that was impossible with me around," he explained.
"Some people are loyal to me to a degree that hurts themselves and I don't ever want someone to rely on me that much."
"Because the life you live is dangerous," Aiko said, picking up on the hidden message.
"Because the life I live is dangerous," Rosan confirmed. "I'm willing to do anything to achieve my goal of finding a new reason to live and I don't want to drag anyone else into that."
"That's...surprisingly mature," Aiko commented and Akemi nodded with teary eyes.
"I'm aging in my own way. My treatment of Maro two years ago, was not fair to her but the damage has been done," Rosan said softly. "All I can do it make sure she grows independently from me. She is a kind girl and I just gave her the power to not be taken advantage of."
Akemi rushed to hug him and Aiko couldn't resist joining.
"You're a good kid, Rosan," Aiko said warmly and Rosan stared at her.
"Many people seem to think that," he conceded, before stepping back and handing her a Den Den Mushi.
"That connects to Maro, call her to talk things out," Rosan told her and she nodded.
"A Queen at 13... You two never cease to amaze me," Aiko muttered.
"She prefers the term princess. More specifically, the Goblin Princess," the redhead said and Aiko snorted, while Akemi crooned.
"Maro is just the most adorable!" Akemi gushed.
"She sure doesn't lack confidence," Aiko said dryly.
"That is true," Rosan said before getting up. "That's all I came to tell you two. I'll be on my way now."
"See ya," the sisters waved before Aiko suddenly thought of something. "Oh by the way, there's a World Noble in the North Blue currently. He just visited Fregate a few days ago but I don't really know where that prick went," the gray haired woman said in annoyance at the memory of the completely insufferable Celestial Dragon.
At least he didn't see fit to do anything damaging to their island. Some other places had not been as lucky.
"Alright. I'll be sure to avoid him," Rosan said softly with a short nod and Aiko let out a sigh of relief.
She had explicitly explained to Rosan just how dangerous messing with the World Nobles were. Attacking one meant that an Admiral would be breathing down his neck in a matter of time.
Though...the Admirals were stationed somewhere in the Grand Line so it would take a while for them to show up.
"Bye Rosan, be careful traveling alone!"
The boy waved before vanishing.
----------------------------------------
"So what will we do now?" Mod said curiously and Rosan tilted his head.
They were currently in his room of the ship as it lazily sailed the seas of the North Blue. He was still a little sore from his battle with Hibiki so he opted to let himself heal faster and board his ship. The weather outside was tame so Rosan didn't see a reason to manually control it.
"It's about time I finally visit Ace," Rosan said calmly. "I didn't want him to see me in this state, but it can't be helped. I've been like this for two years and I've postponed the reunion long enough," he explained.
"Ace…," Mod hummed, recalling Rosan's baby brother. "I hope he can understand your reasoning when you explain it to him."
"He's ten, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't understand," Rosan replied with his eyes closed. The meeting with his brother had been one he had dreaded since the moment he had abandoned him but right now, he didn't feel anything about it.
How bothersome.
Their conversation was interrupted at the sound of a cannon connecting solidly with their ship.
The redhead snapped his dual eyes open and stood up at the noise.
"We're under attack? How brave," the redhead commented and his armband transformed seamlessly into his Reaper guise.
"Who would attack you so boldly?" Ram snarled and even Mod was confused.
"Whoever it is, won't be alive for much longer."
With that, Rosan vanished, only to reappear on the deck of the White Rose. What the hovering boy saw, made him pause.
It was large ship with a grandiose design. The ship possessed four masts, with the frontal sail having the World Government insignia on it. The front three had a crow's nest, with the top of each also having the Government flag on top. The ship's figurehead was a golden bunny wearing a silver crown.
"Ah," Rosan began quietly. "The World Noble Aiko told me about."
Perhaps he had been mistaken for a pirate? Rosan wasn't sure how but that could have been it. The teens ship looked nothing like a standard ship, much less a pirate ship. He had no black sails (and they were almost permanently furled up) and no pirate flag either.
Well, he'd just figure out by asking.
Rosan flapped his wings and took off towards the ship. It didn't take him long to land on the railing and he was faced directly with the Celestial Dragon themself.
It was a fat man in a thick white suit adorned with medal-like knobs on the front. His black hair was combed upwards with a distinct curl top and it was being protected by some sort of rectangular oxygen tank.
"What a gaudy design," Mod sniffed.
"He's really ugly!" Ram sneered.
"Greetings," Rosan began. "I am Reape —."
"Who does this filthy commoner think he is?!" The man interrupted with a screech, clearly outraged by the audacity of this lesser being. "Do you not know who I am?! Of course you know! I am Saint Jeremiah and I will not accept such a filthy creature speaking to me!"
His guards were on alert but they were rather lax. They probably knew who he was then and thought nothing of it. Reaper hunted bounties after all. Though, Rosan wouldn't be surprised if the World Government already knew he was on this ship.
"Ah. My apologies Jeremiah-san," Rosan said politely and the man stewed in anger at the casual tone this...thing was taking with him. "I don't wish to take up your time, I just would like to know why you attacked my ship."
"If not for your wings, I'd have long since killed you by now," Jeremiah said and Rosan tilted his head. "Do I need a reason to attack a ship that happened to cross my path?" the World Noble sniffed. It was this things fault for daring to sail the seas on the same day as him.
Rosan merely tilted his masked head as he heard the man's reasoning.
"Though, it's good that you were not killed in the attack," Jeremiah said and he snapped to get one of his guards attention.
"Get me a slave collar. I want this unique creature. He has an interesting pair of wings that I need. I want to see if the feathers will grow back after being plucked by a razor! We could use them for fashion if they do!"
The guard hesitantly saluted at Jeremiah's psychotic spiel. He looked fearfully at the stationary Reaper and went to go grab the collar.
"So these are the God's of this world," Rosan thought blandly.
If Jeremiah was any indication, they were terrible. This man had just casually labeled him a slave? He had been imprisoned for 6 months and this man wanted to do it again for the rest of his life? While torturing him to boot?
Unforgivable.
These were the people that got to rule the world? These people got to do whatever they wanted, while people like Meiko, died? This is what the Government considered Justice? These filthy pieces of garbage got to dictate the livelihoods of anyone they wanted?
Unacceptable.
"Rosan are you about to…" Mod began hesitantly with wide eyes. Was her little boy really this insane? There was no way he was actually this insane, right?
"Do you want to know something interesting, Jeremiah-san," Reaper said softly, grabbing the man's attention. The Celestial Dragon was about to go on another tangent about how he should not be speaking to him but the Angel of Death would not have it.
"At any given point in time, something truly unfortunate can cause a person to meet their untimely end," he began softly and the Celestial Dragon paused in curiosity at his words. Living such a pampered life gave him no sense of danger it seemed because Rosan was very clearly threatening him.
"Whether it's a little infant who's too sick to remain alive, or a powerful individual who simply got unlucky, Death has no bias."
"What are you talking about?" Jeremiah demanded, not seeming to understand where this was going. His guards were smarter but they were still too slow on the uptake.
Being around a Celestial Dragon had given them a feeling of invincibility. They never thought anyone would be insane enough to do what he was about to do. That's why they let this go on.
"I'm sure you don't know who I am so I'll introduce myself."
"Rosan, are you sure about thi —."
"My name is Reaper, the Angel of Death, and though I don't feel like I'm qualified to do this, I am Death and just this once, I am about to deliver justice onto justice itself," he explained and before anyone could even blink, Reaper was holding the decapitated head of Saint Jeremiah in his hand.
"Death has no bias after all," he whispered, staring into the unaware gaze of the dead man. His face hadn't even registered that he was about to be killed, still held in that dumb expression of his.
"I normally ask a person if they have any final wish or words," he commented idly. "But you've been born with everything and you speak nothing but garbage."
With that, Rosan tossed the man's head away.
"You actually…!" The look on Mod's face, was nothing Ram had ever seen. The woman went white as a sheet with an open mouth and wide, shaky eyes.
The Devil Fruit knew Rosan was insane but this was, quite literally, the worst crime he could have ever done!
It took awhile for the guards to register the fact that Reaper had just killed a Celestial Dragon and the sheer shock of the situation gave the Angel of Death an ample amount of time to do what he wanted.
He fell backwards off the rails and turned his scythe into gloves. The Shinigami caught himself in midair and pointed 2 fingers at the hull of the government's ship. A beam of energy began forming and it grew larger and larger, as Reaper aimed it at the ship.
The bottom of the ship was consumed by a massive blast of red energy that left a gaping hole inside of it.
"Haha! That's it Father!" Ram cheered psychotically.
Reaper ignored the hail of bullets colliding with his Raid Suit and turned towards his ship. It had been injured by the cannonfire of the World Noble and it didn't look good to his amateur eyes.
He doubted an Admiral would be on the way soon but they were on the way and so he needed to get out. The boy palmed his damaged ship and reduced its size so that it could comfortably fit in a pocket.
He then flexed his wings and took to the skies until he was right above the ship.
The entire time, they had been panicking and screeching at what had just happened but Reaper didn't really care.
Such arrogance to have incompetent guards protecting them. The World Nobles had access to the strongest of Marines, yet they sailed the seas with weaklings. They must have truly thought themselves above all, but death was an unstoppable force that could only be stalled.
And Rosan had never been one for stalling.
The boy stopped above the grand ship and aimed both hands at it. A massive ball of energy formed before condensing into something smaller. Particles kept flying in from every direction and it kept combining into the ball.
Reaper aimed a steady hand at the ship and let his attack fly. The small ball of energy expanded to ridiculous sizes as it was shot towards the World Governments ship.
"Exoneration," the Angel of Death intoned and the blast collided ruthlessly with its target.
It never stood a chance.
His energy blast melted the ship like it was butter and the people still alive, were killed on impact. Even from here, Rosan could smell the burning flesh.
"You sure do love your birds eye view, Father," Ram said in amusement. She couldn't blame him though, it was beautiful to look at the burning ship.
"Do you realize what you've just done?" Mod asked seriously. Rosan had just killed a Celestial Dragon. She didn't think a single person in the world was crazy enough to do that.
"The bounty your about to get is going to be incredibly high just from this act alone! I think you've just committed the worst crime in history," Mod explained to him. The price on his head... it was going to be staggering. Even if the Marines covered this up, which they would, Reaper would have a bounty that would put all eyes on them.
"That just means Reaper is retired," the 14 year old said calmly. It was why he had invented this persona in the first place. So that he could get one free get out of jail card.
"Five years is longer than I expected," the purple haired woman shrugged with a resigned sigh. "Well the differences between Reaper and Rosan are so large, that I doubt anyone will make the connection."
"You probably won't be able to use the scythe for a long time though," Ram commented with a bit of a frown. Not being able to turn into a weapon wasn't ideal for her but it was only one.
"That's fine. I have many other weapons I can use," Rosan said softly and he floated out of sight.
"It's rather funny that some so called higher being, died in such an anticlimactic way. No body to recover, no one to tell the tale, just a sad death in the middle of the ocean," the 14 year old replied coldly.
The teen stared dispassionately at the wreckage and he vanished from their sight.
"A death worthy for scum like him. He could never join me for a performance."
----------------------------------------
Sengoku couldn't believe what he was hearing. He actually wouldn't have believed it, if the person explaining it to him didn't look so grave.
"You received a call by a ship that was destroyed moments later... That said Reaper had attacked and killed a Celestial Dragon?" The Fleet Admiral asked slowly and his subordinate nodded slowly.
"That's right, I didn't think it was serious but I heard screaming and moments later, the call cut," he explained.
Sengoku felt a headache forming at that. Reaper wouldn't have attacked that ship for no reason. The Bounty Hunter was a topic of interest for the Marine's because they would be a valuable asset to their forces. They traveled through the Blue Seas at a speed that told them the Angel of Death had a Devil Fruit and they only used it to collect bounties.
Saint Jeremiah had done something to provoke the Shinigami and Reaper clearly didn't take kindly to it.
Sengoku held back a deep sigh. It didn't matter, the sages would want their head no matter what. The chances of Reaper ever becoming a Marine, had dropped into the negatives now.
"Prepare to create a bounty for them," the fleet admiral ordered and the Marine saluted.
"And make sure information about what Reaper has done, is never revealed."
If the world learned that someone had the gall to actually kill a Celestial Dragon... It wouldn't be immediate but some people would begin to get confident and it could throw the world into chaos.
Sengoku hoped it didn't come to that.
----------------------------------------
Kuzan let out a troubled sigh at being dragged all the way over to the North Blue.
Trips this far were normally handled by Borsalino but the Yellow Admiral was busy handling other matters so that left him or Sakazuki and the Red Admiral preferred staying close to the World Nobles, dog that he was.
If not for the severity of the situation, he wouldn't have even bothered coming but as he looked at the wreckage of the World Nobles ship, he had to wonder just what happened.
Reaper had caused this? He had heard much about the Angel of Death, due to the World Government's vested interest in recruiting him into their ranks but that was probably not going to happen anymore.
The Admiral froze the ocean around him and walked up to the destroyed ship, ignoring the questioning looks from his subordinates.
There was not a single body in sight. All the ones that survived the explosion were probably at the bottom of the ocean now and that included Saint Jeremiah.
So much for retrieving his body.
Kuzan didn't know much about Reaper's personality, but he had heard that the Shinigami was very polite and only saw it fit to attack people with bounties. That's what they had been doing for five years since their burst into the scene
So that meant Jeremiah provoked him and, considering most of their personalities, he knew that it was a very likely possibility.
Unfortunately, that wouldn't slide with the World Government. A Celestial Dragon had died and no matter what they did, they would never be in the wrong.
The Blue Admiral knew it likely wasn't Reaper's fault but nobody would care. The Angel of Death had killed a Celestial Dragon and now they wanted his blood.
"Reaper...whoever you are, I hope you realized what you've done," Kuzan drawled as he made his way back to his ship. There was nothing here for him to retrieve. By the time he arrived, the damage had already been done and the Shinigami was probably long gone.
He likely wasn't even in the North Blue anymore.
No one would have expected Reaper to be a hidden monster in the Blue Seas after all. Or maybe they did and just refused to accept it.
Aokiji let out a sigh. This was way too troublesome.
----------------------------------------
Maro, Angel and Demon were taking a break inside of the newly appointed Princess' castle. They had been helping with reparations of the island all day and they were mentally drained from the process.
The bluenette let out a lazy sigh as she soaked in the sun on the balcony. She smiled gratefully at the pale girl that stole Angel's purse and accepted the offered lemonade.
The black haired girl blushed and beamed before skirting away.
Maro had decided to let her (her name was Kanna!) stay in the castle and work for her stay and the little girl readily accepted with tears in her eyes. If not for Angel, Maro was sure Kanna would be following her everywhere but the redhead terrified her.
She had also offered Rin a chance to stay with them and the gray eyed boy had hesitantly agreed, after some encouragement from Demon. It was mostly Maro's guilt at the fact that he thought his father had readily abandoned him but there was no way she was ever going to tell him the truth.
Being a princess was hard work but she had Angel, Demon and the support of the people helping her. It was jarring for all 3 of them to be in such positions of power but Angel had been helping in spades.
It would have been great if the citizens weren't so terrified of the redhead.
On the other hand, Demon was unnaturally popular. The boy's kind demeanor coupled with the fact that he was as handsome as Rosan, meant that he was in the good graces of woman and men in all age groups.
Maro laughed when she heard him muttering about Master always being right.
Angel sat next to her and the Oni couldn't help but stare as the redhead stretched.
The clone caught her and slightly blushed and Maro looked away in embarrassment.
They had begun officially dating and well, they really had no clue how to go about this so they just took it at their own pace. It was working out fine for them and Angel was just mimicking whatever she saw from Rosan so it was pretty nice already!
Her thoughts were interrupted as a News Coo appeared. Out of habit, she payed the gull to inspect the bounty posters that were on them.
It was a habit that she acquired from being Grim. Rosan and the girl frequently bought things from the News Coo to inspect new targets and where to avoid and she enjoyed the leisure time spent with him just going through it all.
As she accepted everything from the gull, Maro placed the newspaper to the side and slid closely to Angel so they could both look at the new bounties.
Though she wasn't going to be hunting them, there was always a chance that they showed up on Celadon unannounced and if that happened, well they'd be dealing with her.
Maro paused as something caught her eye and she grabbed the object of attention immediately. The 13 year old let out a loud "WHAT?!" and Angel shot up to look at her.
"What? What's wrong, Maro?" Angel asked in confusion. Maro was not one to let out such an outburst but the girl was gawking at a bounty poster with her eyes bugged. The sheer shock in her eyes, worried the redheaded clone.
She began shaking and handed her the poster without saying a word. Angel raised a brow and grabbed it out of her hand. She didn't even inspect it for 3 seconds before a shriek escaped her mouth.
"HOW DID HE DO THIS? WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN GONE FOR A MONTH?!" Angel screamed and Demon came rushing to the scene.
"First Maro, now Angel? Are you too alright —," Demon was about to ask before his twin shoved the bounty in his face.
What he saw made him go white as a sheet.
"Master, what the fuck," Demon said, cursing for the first time since his creation.
"DID MASTER GET RID OF ME SO HE COULD HAVE ALL THE FUN?!" Maro gaped in disbelief.
----------------------------------------
Aiko removed her suit and crashed on her couch with a happy moan.
She just wanted to fall asleep right then and there. Sometimes, the gray haired woman wondered why she accepted this damn position from Rosan but that never lasted long.
The opening of a door, alerted her to her little sister's presence and Aiko lazily looked up to make eye contact with Akemi.
She sat all the way up at the nervous look in her eyes and Aiko sharply asked, "What's wrong?"
Akemi sighed and said "You have to promise to not be mad."
That sent Aiko on high alert and the woman stared warily at her. "What is it?" She demanded without promising.
Akemi let out a sigh and pulled out a bounty poster. The woman then handed it over to Aiko and what the older sister saw, made her jaw drop.
"W-w-w-what the fuck?" Aiko said in disbelief at what she was looking at.
"It's his first bounty too…," Akemi said with a furrowed brow.
Aiko stared at it for a bit longer and said "Nope. I'm going to sleep. When I wake up I can think more about this."
True to her words, the woman got up and made her way to sleep with Akemi behind her. That didn't stop the 25 year old from contemplating the situation.
What on Earth had he done to get this?!
----------------------------------------
Sanji had been keeping up on Reaper ever since the Shinigami saved him. The Orbit had picked up on his childish fascination and they teased the 9 year old about it, much to his embarrassment.
"Sanji! You might wanna see this…" A voice called, catching the boys attention. The budding chef was currently chopping some onions and he paused as he looked at the paper his crewmate was holding.
The knife dropped on the floor, as the boy gaped at what he was looking at.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?" The child screeched and, though everyone expected it, the volume was louder then they anticipated.
How did this happen?! What did Reaper do?! The Angel of Death only hunted bounties and that wasn't going to land him one himself.
Something had to have been wrong! There was no way the Reaper that he met, would do something deserving of a bounty this high.
The boy gnawed his lip in confusion.
How was he supposed to cook him the best meal now?
----------------------------------------
Nico Robin was sat in her room, staring at a bounty poster with inscrutable eyes. A cup of coffee sat on the table next to her.
On the poster, was the infamous Shinigami themselves, Reaper.
The Devil Child had heard of them. She was sure everyone in the Blue Seas had heard of the Angel of Death.
She didn't know what exactly they were capable of but the girl didn't even want to risk being spotted by them. They were a bounty hunter so they would surely hunt her down if given the chance.
Which is why it was a surprise to see them on a bounty poster themselves.
Perhaps that meant she was safe from them now.
Seeing a bounty this high in the Blue Seas, reinforced the idea that she had done good to avoid the Shinigami all this time.
They truly were dangerous.
Still, the black clad face that was Reaper, reminded her of when she first met Rosa —
Stop. He was gone and thinking about him, never did her any good.
Robin had spent so long looking for him and hadn't heard anything in 5 years and she finally accepted it. It took her too long to come to terms with the fact that the last person she cared for was gone and she refused to regress back into that lifeless state she had taken.
Endless black stared back at her and the 18 year old bit her lip in order to hold back her tears. After a moment, she crumbled up the bounty poster and threw it in the trash with more force than necessary.
The Devil Child took out a picture that her and Rosan took on the girl's 12th birthday. Rosan had stolen a camera and demanded the two take a picture. One picture had turned into a dozen and he forced her to keep one with the both of them in it on her person.
Robin was glad that he made her do that because this was her only remaining connection to her old companion.
She missed him so much but she would keep moving for him.
Robin cursed Reaper for digging up old wounds and forced herself to get some sleep before she broke down further.
She wouldn't be staying with this organization for much longer anyways.
----------------------------------------
Donquixote Doflamingo looked at the bounty with a wild grin on his face.
"So, you've got a higher bounty than me, Reaper? I wonder what you did in the Blue Seas to warrant getting one so high," the blonde man mused. He would be keeping this with him as a memento.
Someone with a bounty this high, would not be able to stay in the Blue Seas for long. It was only a matter of time before Reaper stopped playing in the little leagues and actually went to the Grand Line.
When that time came —
Doflamingo let loose a loud laugh that startled all of his crewmates.
— He would be waiting for him.
----------------------------------------
A set of bright eyes locked onto the bounty before the figure grinned.
----------------------------------------
Rosan, undisguised, was currently sat in a restaurant, drinking a cup of lemonade while nibbling on a platter of sandwiches. He was currently staring at his bounty poster with a blank expression.
It was a picture of him in his Reaper guise (of course) and it was impossible to tell who it was underneath. The distance of the picture was slightly further, to show off his obsidian black wings and he wasn't holding his scythe.
The 14 year old expertly ignored the suggestive wink from the waiter as she arrived with his actual meal and he thanked her, getting a blush out of her.
"Goddamn perverts," Mod snarled and Ram laughed.
"You can't expect people to not be attracted to Father!" Ram chastised the older woman with a shake of her head.
Before Mod could say anything, an attractive older woman with blonde hair sidled up into the seat next to Rosan with a flirtatious smile and the Devil Fruit let out a strangled yell.
"Hey handsome," she greeted and Rosan glanced at her with a half-lidded gaze. "I don't think I've seen you around here before. I'm Amy," she introduced leaning closer to him.
Rosan stared at her before taking another sip of his drink. "Did you want something?" The redhead asked politely and he focused his attention back on his bounty poster. His voice was getting deeper now and, though it still cracked quite a bit, it wasn't nearly as bad as last year.
Last year was pretty bad.
He suspected that the World Government wanted to make his bounty even higher then what it currently was but it would be too suspicious if his very first bounty was that ludicrous.
They probably would die before revealing that a Celestial Dragon had died. Even still, the price of the bounty was insane. He wasn't even strong enough to deserve a number this high. Seems they really did care about the Gods of their world...
The woman withered a bit at his dismissive tone. "I-I just wanted to get to know a bit about you?"
"I'm Rosan. I'm 14," he informed her and the woman's mouth opened in disbelief.
"Seriously? What the hell..." the woman muttered at hearing his age. She shrugged helplessly at the situation as if saying "what can you do" and instead looked at the bounty poster he was staring at.
"Oh! That's been the talk of the town," Amy exclaimed, pointing a finger at the bounty poster and grabbing Rosan's attention again.
"Is that so?" Rosan asked and he dug into the pasta that he ordered.
Meiko's was better.
"Yeah! No one ever expected Reaper of all people to get a bounty!" The woman exclaimed in surprise. "He's been really helping in cleaning out the seas so I wonder if the World Government didn't like him taking credit for all of it…"
"They haven't released a reasoning behind it either," Rosan added and she nodded.
"I wonder what he did…?" The woman mused and Rosan didn't miss how she labeled Reaper as a male. Lots of people referred to Reaper as he, some also referred to them as she but others just assumed they were truly gender-less.
"Are you a fan of his? You've barely taken your eyes off the bounty poster since I saw you?" Amy asked curiously and Rosan hummed.
"No, I'm not a fan," the heterochromia eventually decided, eyes glowing faintly.
"Just curious about what they'll do next is all."
----------------------------------------
Bounty Poster
WANTED
DEAD OR ALIVE
'THE ANGEL OF DEATH' REAPER
500,000,000 Beris
-Marine