– Bellamy –

Monkey D. Dragon.

Son of the marine hero Garp the Fist and Luffy's absent father.

For being part of this rather conspicuous lineage, Dragon was a man whose mere existence evoked many questions, starting with why Garp had decided to name him after a mythical creature in the first place. Personally, I wanted to give the old Vice Admiral the benefit of the doubt, and believe it to be representative of his desire to see his son become a noble and strong marine. It wasn't the most polished of opinions, true. But the alternative was Garp taking inspiration from certain fishbowl wearing idiots, which was as unlikely as it was a cruel thought to entertain.

Either way, from what little I knew about the man, Dragon had followed his father into the marine corps before leaving it at some unspecified time due to the irreconcilability of their sense of justice with his. Fast forward a couple of decades and Dragon had gone from being the leader of a small band of Freedom Fighters to the Supreme Commander of the Revolutionary army. In all likelihood, it must have taken an eye-boggling amount of effort to even reach this stage, not to mention how much was still needed to keep the momentum going.

As such, enough wealth to buy the world or not, arranging a meeting with the leader of a global military organization such as Dragon was never going to be a simple affair. Especially, if the individual in question spent most of his time travelling the world to command his troops, inspect his scattered bases and drum up further support for his revolution. Meaning, that despite Sabo having contacted his commanding officer near immediately about my offer, it had still taken a good two months before Dragon managed to foist his responsibilities unto Emporio Ivankov and return to Baltigo Base.

As I had little else to do, I'd made good use of that time to explore a train of thought which had occurred to me during my battle with Mad Treasure. Namely, the ubiquitous spring-like nature of our universe. Like I had noted before, everything which was compressible could be understood to be a spring in one form or another, from the largest stars down to the basic building blocks of reality. And if there was one thing springs did very well, it was oscillate.

Just in case you guys weren't physicists… another term for the energy contained within molecular oscillation was heat. In other words, I had the potential to turn into a thermal generator at will, at least once I had gained enough control over my devil fruit. Which in turn meant that I could make use of the Seebeck Effect to convert the generated thermal energy directly into electricity. Admittedly, it wasn't the most efficient method in the world, but unlike my earlier ideas of turning my heart into an electromagnetic generator, the Seebeck Effect didn't require any moving parts. That it would also free up Aisa to act as an independent combatant was an added bonus.

However, as amazing as this breakthrough had been, it paled in comparison to the possibility entailed in Dragon's offer.

"What do you know about Devil Fruit Awakenings?"

"Very little, I'm afraid." I admitted. "Basically that it's the only way to unlock the true potential of a devil fruit and achieving it greatly enhances one's powers. In the case of paramecias like myself, my element affecting not only my own body but my environment isn't outside the realm of possibility. At least according to some rumors."

"That about sums it up." Dragon nodded. "While it isn't without risks, there's usually a near insurmountable gap between an awakened fruit and one that's not."

"Near insurmountable?"

"Yes. While awakening a fruit requires mastery over one's devil fruit, mastery does not automatically translate into combat effectiveness." He explained. "Those who rely only on their awakened devil fruit and nothing else can still be beaten rather easily. Or for that matter, be countered by sufficient expertise in haki or the creative use of another devil fruit."

"You'd think that would be obvious."

"You'd be surprised at how often people miss the obvious. Anyway, it's a good thing that you think so, because that saves me the trouble of having to pound that lesson into your brain. It also means that we have more time for more interesting topics…"

"Pound…?" I mumbled to myself, his choice of words making me uneasy for some reason.

"…and that we can get down to the meat of things." He grinned. "Do you have any idea how one would go about it?"

"If there's a manual I haven't heard about it. As you yourself know very well, awakenings aren't that common in the first place, and those who managed it tend to be close-lipped about it." I sighed, shrugging in a what-can-you-do gesture.

"True. At the end of the day, most people or even most fruit users aren't even aware of its existence, never mind the methodology."

"Unlike you?"

"Unlike me." He confirmed, smirking slightly. "After all, I awakened mine."

"I guessed as much. You wouldn't have mentioned it if you hadn't." I replied, before leaning forward eagerly. "When do we start?"

"As soon as we're done here. But before you get overly excited, there are two things that need to be said first. The first being that what I'm about to teach you are the conclusions I've drawn from my own experiences and may not necessarily be true for anybody else. Exceptions to this may very well exist." Dragon paused, waiting until I gave him a nod before continuing. "As for the second matter…"

"By any chance, is it something along the lines of: you're not ready to awaken your fruit just yet?" I interjected, causing him to raise a curious eyebrow.

"Why, yes. That's exactly what I was about to say. How'd you guess?"

"Just a feeling." I answered, leaning slightly back in disappointment. "Well, that and the fact that I know of a few who have awakened theirs."

"You do?"

"Doflamingo and Gild Tesoro come to mind." Giving Dragon a wry smile, I shrugged again. "Not sure if you noticed but there's a rather large gap between them and I at the moment in terms of devil fruit mastery."

"I'm not sure where you've heard that little tidbit, but that's mighty interesting information."

"You didn't know?" That was unexpected. I guess that even their incredible intelligence network wasn't perfect.

"It's not something you go about proclaiming from the rooftops. For most of us, it's the ace up our sleeves." He said, scratching his chin. "Though, this does mean that we'll have to reshuffle the infiltration teams a bit for safety reasons. That'll push several of our operations back."

"…"

We both froze as his words registered, triggering an awkward silence. What was it with members of the Monkey family and casually blurting out secrets? And more incredibly, how had this man kept the Revolutionary Army hidden for so long?

"You weren't meant to hear that."

"I'm legally deaf."

That had to be genetic. Even the response was the same as Garp's and Luffy's.

"Smart man."

Though, on the other hand, it did mean that Dragon trusted me enough to let his guard down around me, didn't it? I supposed that was good news.

"Can we get back on topic, please?" I requested and Dragon complied, eager to move on from his...accident.

"Sure. You were correct when you pointed out the disparity between yourself and the likes of Doflamingo. But the difference isn't quite what you think it is. Awakening goes beyond merely mastering one's fruit. It's a venture into the unknown, using the foundation you've built until then." Dragon explained, waving his hands about like an overly excited magician. I probably just looked confused. "Think of it this way. You are aware of how a devil fruit power manifests, largely depends on the imagination of the user?"

"Of course."

"Awakening goes a step beyond that. Whereas before you'd be moving within the rules and bending them to suit your needs, awakening is the process of creating a new rule and enforcing it upon the world. Or at least your own unique understanding of a rule."

"There has got to be a catch."

"Naturally. Beyond needing to be strong enough in body and mind to handle the boost, you must get your fruit to agree with you."

"Agree?" I echoed. "You speak as if devil fruits are sentient."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"While it's true that they aren't sentient in the same manner as your or I, surely someone of your standing is aware that devil fruits have a will of their own?" Dragon asked, one singular eyebrow disappearing into his hair. "Is it so unthinkable that they would have preferences or desires too?"

"I suppose, it is rather telling that zoan users are influenced by whatever creature their powers emulate…" I mused, scratching my chin. "If I've understood you correctly, that's just the process of a devil fruit nudging its user towards a preferred end state?"

"Exactly. Personally, I believe that all devil fruits want to awaken and hence seek to prepare their user accordingly, though some do this more than others. Think of it as a symbiotic relationship." He said, holding up two hands, palms up. "As you grow into your power, so your power helps you grow ever more attuned to it, until you are eventually able to tap into everything your fruit has to offer."

"So…basically, my mind and body have to catch up to my power." I said, quoting Kaido's explanation from the canon manga series. It had been a barebones answer and not one designed to be an exposé into the mechanics of devil awakenings, but it was the single biggest clue I had. Dragon looked rather surprised at my words, though he quickly caught himself and gave me a wide smile.

"That is the minimum requirement, yes."

"But where does the creation of a new rule fit into all this?" I blinked.

"It's implied in the minimum requirement. Like I said, fruits aren't truly sentient and thus aren't capable of conscious thought. As such, they lack one integral ingredient which we humans have."

"Which is?"

"The ability to dream." Dragon stated in a low tone, lending the simple phrase more gravitas and philosophical depth than it would have had coming from near anybody else.

"I'm assuming you're not referring to the things my brain experiences while I sleep."

"Call it a vision or the big picture if you must. Unlike us, devil fruits do not possess the ability to present a roadmap for the future and are driven by instinct more than anything else. However, as useful and powerful as it can be, instinct alone is never enough to reach the top."

"I'm still not seeing it."

"If we only ever learn and practice that which was already done before, can we call that true mastery?" If nothing else, the exasperated look in his eyes, one which had been a staple on the faces of my professors, made it obvious that this had been a rhetorical question. "Every layman can do the same with enough time and effort. No, to truly make the fruit's power your own, one must be a pioneer. And if you manage that get your fruit to fully cooperate with you…you can change the world."

"Okaaay… setting aside that this seems like a circular argument, how exactly am I not ready?"

"You can hardly convince your fruit to follow your vision if you haven't finalised it in your own mind yet, can you?"

----------------------------------------

– Aisa –

Aisa loved being a member of the Bellamy pirates. They were funny, nice and genuinely cared about her. In a way, they were like a bunch of new aunts and uncles who doted on her and gave her cookies when Bellamy wasn't looking. Though sadly, now that he had unlocked his own haki, it had become increasingly more difficult to smuggle cookies past him.

"Stand still!!" Aisa called out. Olga just turned around and stuck out her tongue.

"Never!"

More often than not, he always burst into the kitchen at precisely the wrong time to find her with her hand in the cookie jar, before proceeding to take her beloved snacks hostage. Aisa always had to work very hard to rescue them from Bellamy and make sure they were safe by winning the ensuing game of tag. She usually did – though she had the faint suspicion that he was letting her win – and the rewards were always very tasty. That didn't change the fact that these training sessions – Aisa wasn't stupid. She could tell! – were very tiring and somewhat stressful. Even if they were fun at times.

"Got you!"

"No, you missed Aisa-chan!" Soren giggled, ducking around a corner.

Getting to play an actual game of tag with no hidden motiv… moti… reasons was something she had missed dearly without having realised it. When she was still with the tribe, she'd used to play such games with the other children. At least until they realised that she was the chief's granddaughter. Things had gotten much lonelier after that.

"Stop running and let me tag you!"

But things were different now because Aisa had friends her age. In fact, she had two! Admittedly, it had taken a little time to coax Soren out of her shell, but now she was very eager to discover what fun was like. Olga was a lot of fun too, if a little odd. She really seemed to believe that she was over two hundred years old, but that was just silly. Aisa was bigger so she had to be older, right?

"Too slow! Better luck next time!"

But quirky or not, Aisa loved her new friends and spent as much time as she could playing lots of fun games. Like hide & seek, jumping rope and tag. To make things fair, Aisa always limited herself so that she was about as strong and fast as Soren and Olga. Oh, and her haki. That had to be turned off too.

Which was why Aisa had no idea why Olga stopped in the middle of the chase to peer around the corner while letting out an impressed Oooh. It was only when she stuck her head out above hers, that Aisa found out exactly what had caught her friend's attention. And even as Soren completed the totem pole of heads, Aisa watched transfixed as a fishman ran through a series of punches and kicks with Nico Robin watching from the sidelines. While the movements themselves weren't anything new, the way they flowed together was…different. In fact, the whole sequence reminded Aisa a lot of her tribal dances.

"Wow."

"Seems like your audience grew a bit, Mr. Hack." Robin said, beckoning the trio over, seeming quite amused to have them here. The fishman seemed less enthused.

"This isn't a playground, children. You shouldn't be here."

"We're not children. I'm a brave shandian warrior!" Aisa declared, puffing out her chest. But like Olga's muttered objections, her statement was similarly disregarded.

"Yes, yes. Run along children."

"Not before you tell us what you were doing." Olga imperiously replied, crossing her arms and staring up at Hack. Soren tried to copy her but ended up looking more like a curious puppy. Instead of answering, Hack just tried to stare Olga into submission. It didn't work.

Thankfully for everyone involved, Robin was rather good at resolving arguments.

"Mr. Hack was showing me the basics of Fishman Karate." She answered the trio, though that told them basically nothing.

"Fishman karate?"

"Yes. Mr. Hack is an expert in this martial art discipline and a combat instructor of the Revolutionary Army." Robin explained. "He was kind enough to offer me lessons."

"Can you show us more?" Martial arts? That sounded interesting. Very interesting indeed.

"No. It is a dangerous art, and I will not be responsible for any injuries resulting from you three trying to copy me without the proper technique."

Apparently, Olga disagreed with the fishman because she leaned backwards to whisper into Aisa's ear.

"Huhuhu. I'll call it boring to trick him into proving us wrong. Then I'll do it again and again until I've seen enough to copy him later."

Unfortunately, Olga was really bad at whispering so that everybody clearly understood her.

"You know, we can hear you, little miss." Hack muttered, looking rather unimpressed. "If you don't want me to learn of your plan immediately, you shouldn't say it out loud."

"Hoh!" Olga said in realisation, lightly bringing her fist down unto her open palm.

"Why are you looking impressed?"

Perhaps it had been Olga's threats or Soren's puppy eyes, but in either case Hack eventually gave in and agreed to teach them his secrets. If only to stop them from hurting themselves. Though, contrary to the trios initial intentions, the lesson plan turned out to be much more time intensive than Aisa had initially anticipated.

And as she lay groaning in bed a few weeks later, Aisa would regret awakening the demon that was the combat instructor Hack and allowing him to take over her evenings. Robin, being her very unhelpful self, kept encouraging everybody involved while providing lots of arms to practice against.

Though oddly enough, the thought of quitting never once crossed Aisa's mind.