Beyond the Amazon Lily: The Man from Woman Island

Beyond the Amazon Lily: The Man from Woman Island

1. The Ashen Witch

"Thank you! Goodbye!" I waved my hands at huge Yuda snakes that just pulled my medium-small ship out of the calm belt.

Hsss!

They hissed before slowly disappearing from my sight.

Watching that once again reminded me that I'm going away from my homeland.

***

"Kaoru, Are you really going?" Someone called when I was preparing for my adventure. I turned around and saw a short granny with a pet snake that she used as a staff.

"Nyonba [Elder Nyon]" Her real name is Gloriosa, but we citizens of Amazon Lily called her Nyoba. She is also the former empress of this island.

"You know my people, Nyonba. Now that I'm an adult, I'm no longer able to stay here."

"I know your Yatagarasu Lineage. But you don't have to be a man!" Nyonba said.

"Nyonba…" I said with a melancholy face, "You saw my physique. It no longer looked like a woman. My body had already started changing before I turned sixteen. It's my calling to be a man."

(There's no way I'm saying goodbye to my little brother again!!) But It's better not to say that out loud.

Besides," I smiled at Nyonba, "I always wanted to go on an adventure. This situation only helped push me out of my comfortable zone to move forward and become successful.

"..." Nyonba was speechless. (What's the relationship between success and adventure!?) She thought.

'Kaoru sometimes said something incomprehensible and just ignored it when she did that', were the wise words from Kaoru's friends.

"I see, then be careful."

"Yes, and thank you again. For helping me that time and this time too. I'm unable to come back anymore, but I'll find you and the others if you guys decide to go out."

***

Kaoru snapped out of his daze, burying that thought deep inside.

It's time to take a step forward.

"Now then, what should I do?" Kaoru said nothing to anyone, as he was alone on the ship.

It's been a few hours since he left the calm belt and entered the grand line. He was in luck, as the weather had been calm all this time.

He knew how jumpy the weather on the Grand Line is. However, he still chose the grand line rather than other blues.

Some of the reasons are that he didn't have the confidence to cross the reverse mountain, while others are that the other blues are too peaceful compared to paradise and the new world.

Which is why Kaoru's adventure or trip around the world started on the Grand Line and was more detailed in the Arabasta Kingdom. One of the biggest countries is close to the entrance of the Grand Line. Where he had the highest possibility of finding a sturdier ship and a better navigator than himself.

It doesn't mean Kaoru is unable to navigate by himself, but it is better to have a specialist.

Kaoru imagined what kind of adventure he would have in the future....

"Um, excuse me, can you let me rest on your ship for some time?"

It was shocking to Kaoru to hear another voice when he was alone on the ship.

Yet when he turned to the source of the voice, His eyes snapped wide open in an instant.

A huge pointy hat, a baggy robe, a bit untidy, pretty silver ashen long hair, a light purple pupil, and a pretty and cute face.

Everything was in a bit of a mess, as if she had just been struck by a storm. Still, the most shocking of all was the broom on which she sat.

It was floating! A flying broom!

She was flying beside Kaoru's ship.

"I know I'm beautiful. But I'll be more glad if you were to reply to my request first before gawking at me." She continued with a flat tone.

"!! Of course, please come aboard," Kaoru replied, adding that he also didn't have any reason to refuse her.

"Huu…" The girl cleaned, tidied, and relaxed herself once she was on board. Kaoru waited till she was done as he observed her quietly. There's already something he realized about her. She didn't mind at all Kaoru's presence, which was a stranger. Meanwhile, she also always kept Kaoru in her vision, no matter what she did. She was relaxing but not letting her guard down, which implied she was no beginner at meeting strangers.

Then she brought water out of her side bag, and after she was done drinking and everything else, the girl finally focused her attention on Kaoru.

"Thank you. I'm a traveler, the Ashen Witch, Elaina," She introduced.

(She's really a witch.) Kaoru thought that, except for the old, ugly, and gloomy part, her entire appearance was the same as the witch depicted in the story.

"I'm Kaoru," Kaoru replied. "If you don't mind me asking, can you tell me what happened? You looked quite a bit like a mess just now."

"I don't mind, and I also had a few questions," Elaina replied.

"I see, I'm fine with that. Feel free to go first."

"Do you know where we are? Like, what is this sea called?" Elaina asked then, and when she saw Kaoru's dumbfounded face, her face became a bit red from embarrassment. "Actually, I'm a bit lost," She added before she showed Kaoru her compass that kept spinning. "As you see, it's broken."

Elaina thought that by asking Kaoru, everything would become clearer. Instead, she has become even more confused. Once she showed Kaoru her compass, the way Kaoru looked at her was like she was an alien, or even like she was the most idiotic person in the world.

"We're in the grand line. A normal compass wouldn't work," Kaoru answered after he took a few moments to process her information.

"What do you mean?" Elaina was surprised.

Then Kaoru continued by showing her the log pose he had and the eternal pose to the Arabasta, along with how it works and the reason why a normal compass wouldn't work in a grand line.

Once he was done, Elaina was left flabbergasted. Everything was new to her.

"You said you were lost before. Can you tell me how you got lost?" It was Kaoru's turn to ask.

Actually, Elaina didn't really want others to know about it, but in this situation, she didn't have any other choice.

"It's a bit embarrassing to say. Actually, I'm flying on the grassy land, but because of my carelessness, I accidentally entered a dense fog, and after I got through the dense fog, I appeared in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of nowhere."

"And what with the weather here!! It suddenly rained! Then it became so hot as dessert! Then it instantly changed to a hail storm!! There's also a strange monster in the water!! Added to that, I had never seen a single piece of land or human till today!!"

Seeing Elaina snap, Kaoru stayed silent, listening to her vent her grudge. But at least he now knew why she looked like that when she first appeared.

After she was done, Kaoru asked her again, "Um, Elaina-san, I know it might be rude to ask, especially after seeing you flying on the broom before." He chose his words carefully so that he would not offend her. "This is my first time seeing a real witch; can you show me, like, you know, magic?"

Elaina wanted to say that this wasn't the time for that, but she remembered that he just listened to her rant a few moments ago without complaining.

Then, without waiting any longer, Elaina waved her hand, and instantly a wand appeared on her hand.

Next, she waved it around before a small fire, a small piece of ice, and a breeze appeared out of nothing at the same time. then disappeared after a few moments.

"Alright, Thank you." Kaoru said he was having a hard time keeping calm. He took a few deep breaths, then finally stared straight into Elaine's eyes.

"Elaina-san, I'm sorry to say this. But, just like how you never knew what the Grand Line was, At least from the common sense I have, there's no such thing as Magic or witchcraft here. It's a fantasy, an imaginary entity that only appeared in a storybook." Kaoru explained, "We do have devil fruit, or haki, that gave people unimaginable strength like magic, but not real magic, just like how you did."

"Huh?" Elaina took a few moments to properly process what Kaoru said, and she also made sure she didn't hear it wrong. "What–"

"Wait!" Kaoru cut her words short. He was so occupied with Elaina and her magic that he didn't realize the upcoming danger. He saw a huge amount of dense fog on the path where his ship was sailing.

It's a bit too much to call it a danger because Kaoru could feel if it was something dangerous upfront, yet it was still an unknown.

"Elaina-san, is it that kind of fog?" He asked for confirmation. Elaina's back was facing the dense fog, so she didn't realize it till now. and with Kaoru's cue, she turned back and saw the exact same fog!

"That's the one!" She exclaimed. "What will you do?" Elaina explained that it would be some kind of magic that she didn't know, or she wouldn't get thrown here in this sea.

"It's too late. Even if I wanted to turn the ship away, I wouldn't be able to escape something that enormous." Kaoru could only shake his head. "You can escape first," He suggested, as Elaina could just fly away.

However, to Kaoru's surprise, Elaina refused, saying, "I felt that might be my way back."

"I see." There's no need for any further words. They braced themselves, and before long the ship and the two on board entered the dense fog.

There was nothing there other than the fact that their vision was shortened to about arm length. Kaoru also didn't feel anything strange about it. "This is the same as what happened to me," Elaina chided.

Before long, they were able to see light from the front, which was most likely the end of the fog. But then suddenly

*Bonk!

Something hit Kaoru's head, and he instantly fell on his back. His thoughts blacked out for a fraction of a second.

(What?!) His thoughts were in turmoil (I didn't feel anything with my Haki!)

"Kaoru-san?!" He also briefly heard Elaina's calls.