238 Elusive Memories

Cherry sat on the Thousand Sunny's lion figure in a meditative pose. She activated the fusion fruit's awakening with the intent of understanding its capabilities.

The first thing she noted was the massive increase of energy expenditure compared to the regular expenditure from ordinary usage that she didn't even notice. Of course, energy was something she had in great abundance so this wasn't a big deal to her, though she noted that others wouldn't be able to sustain this level of consumption for very long.

When Cherry focused on the air in front of the ship, she could feel the atoms and molecules that made up the atmosphere. Cherry condensed the water molecules into a liquid state with ease. Then she tried breaking apart the chemical bonds of other gasses with hydrogen or oxygen and sticking them together to form water, which she found actually required a fair bit of effort on her part.

Finally, she tried to rip apart the atoms themselves. She could just barely manage it, but not on a scale that was useful at the moment. What mattered was that she could actually do it, which meant she'd get better at it with practice.

The thought of someday using atomic fission as an attack popped into her head and was immediately discarded. While the idea was, in her own words, "bad ass", it wasn't conducive to keeping collateral damage to a minimum considering the deadly radiation it would produce.

"I'll just have to settle for fusion bombs, I suppose." Cherry spoke to herself. She had already experimented with plasma attacks so her awakening could increase their intensity and scale to a horrifying degree.

"You aren't planning to build weapons of mass destruction are you?" Law asked her, his words and the look on his face making it clear he had overheard her.

"No, I'm planning to become a weapon of mass destruction. Not a terribly uncommon goal in this part of the world, I'm sure you'll agree?" Cherry asked in turn.

"Actually, the Emperors largely seem to agree that large numbers are just as important as great personal strength. Whitebeard has his found family, Kaidou has his army of SMILE devil fruit users, and Big Mom makes lots and lots of babies." Law said.

"What about Shanks?" Cherry asked, as the red haired man was notably absent from Law's explanation.

"Don't know. He's got a decent sized crew, but his motives are mysterious. Most people who have met him will tell you he's super laid back, but then he goes and meddles with big events like the war at Marineford." Law said, looking perplexed.

"What about you then, doc? You've awakened your devil fruit just like I have, so do you prefer personal might or military might?" Cherry asked lazily.

Law widened his eyes in shock. He hadn't exactly advertised the fact that he had awakened his devil fruit, and he certainly hadn't told or shown any of the Straw Hats.

"Oh, was it a secret? My bad, I won't tell anyone. You must be new to it, same as me then?" Cherry asked.

Law heaved a sigh, he'd probably have to get used to this sort of thing happening with Cherry. "Yes, it's new. I haven't quite worked out the kinks yet, so it's better to keep it as a surprise. An ace up my sleeve so to speak."

Cherry felt something twinge deep within herself. "A what?"

"An ace up my sleeve? You know, a game changing move to give me an advantage?" Law said, looking at her strangely.

Cherry felt the twinge of pain again, very clearly. This time she was paying attention, and it very clearly occurred when Law had said the word 'ace'. She didn't know why that word in particular was having such an effect on her, but that in itself was evidence she could draw an assumption from.

Cherry would have scoffed at the idea only minutes before, but she could only accept the truth that "Somebody has been mucking around in my head."

Law flinched at the venom in the words as well as the demonic visage that Cherry's face twisted into. "It wasn't me…"

"I know that, brat." Cherry said, amused at his denial but still very angry. "Does the word 'ace' mean anything to you? Anything at all?"

Law thought seriously about the question as Cherry was very clearly not messing around at the moment. "No, I can't say it means anything to me off the top of my head."

Cherry swept past him like a vengeful ghost after the one who wronged her in life. A certain pressure enveloped the entire ship, which alarmed the others as those who were below deck came rushing outside to see what was going on. The pressure was strong, but not stifling as it wasn't aimed at them. However, the more observant among them could instinctually feel that Cherry was hunting for something.

"Jinbe! What does 'ace' mean to you?!" Cherry all but accosted the large fishman. He took no offense seeing how serious she was and answered honestly, "I'm not sure…"

"Ace?" Zoro spoke up with a hint of familiarity in his tone. Cherry was nearly on top of him immediately, searching his face for an answer. He tried to back up to no avail as she hounded his every step.

"Ah!" Zoro remembered. "Ace is one of the 12 Supreme Meitos! The sword that Gol D. Roger used, if I remember right."

Cherry's eyes widened slightly with enlightenment. "Yes, Gol D. Roger. What about his sword? No, not his sword, that feels wrong…"

The others watched Cherry mumble to herself with concern, especially Robin. None of them saw fit to stop whatever was going on just yet, however. They all had an inkling that it was important, but couldn't exactly place why it was so.

Cherry's mind refused to give so much as a hint towards what she was searching for, but her soul was another case altogether. She had this instinct that something wasn't right, perhaps even that she was under attack at this very moment by some unknown force.

Cherry went back to her conversation with Law. They had just discussed the Emperors, and something there was nagging at her. "Whitebeard? Kaido? Big Mom? Shanks? Shanks…"

Cherry spun around with wild eyes glaring at Luffy's hat. "Shanks was on Roger's crew. Shanks gave Luffy his hat. Luffy's hat contains a vivre card from someone he has no recollection of. A vivre card he thinks is important for reasons he can't remember…"

Even the slower witted members of the crew were catching on now. Except Luffy who was as bewildered as he could be.

Cherry was certain she was on the right track. Gol D. Roger, the word ace, the vivre card, all three were connected somehow, but even now her mind draws a blank. "A devil fruit that makes you forget people? I can't sense any devil fruit effects on anyone here though, and when would someone have had access to us all…?"

Cherry's eyes fell upon Caesar. "Any idea what's going on, clown?"

Caesar tried to make himself seem small under those evil eyes. He felt as small as he was trying to look as the pressure of Cherry's Conqueror's Haki shifted to make him extremely uncomfortable.

"I don't know anything! I promise!" Caesar cried out.

"If there's someone who can make you forget people, then they could have made us forget them as well." Robin suggested.

"Why did Cherry even become suspicious, then? Chopper asked innocently.

""I'm (She's) built different."" Cherry and Robin said simultaneously.

"She's rubbing off on you, Robin." Nami said teasingly, trying to break some of the tension.

Law was rubbing his brow. He really hoped this wasn't somehow Doflamingo's doing, as that would be a huge unknown variable to deal with. He wished that he had kept either Vergo or Monet captive, but he had been worried that Doflamingo might just chase them if he tried to use his direct subordinates as hostages. Law himself used to be in Doflamingo's crew many years ago, but he didn't recall anyone with such abilities. Then again, that may not necessarily be true.

"Is it someone on Doflamingo's crew?" Sanji voiced Law's thoughts.

"We have the vivre card in Luffy's hat. If it leads us to Dressrosa, then we'll have an almost certain answer." Cherry said.

"I certainly hope not! I would hate to imagine I would forget my comrade in arms, Kanjuro, no matter the reason! That would be disgraceful of me!" Kin'Emon said seriously.

"Perhaps you've forgotten a different comrade?" Robin suggested, which made Kin'emon feel tremendous guilt at just the possibility.

"Great, just what we needed. Another risky task to complete." Law muttered, walking off to find somewhere to take a much needed nap.