(Vol 4) CHAPTER - 2 { Peacock Queen }

Few hundreds of miles away from the Giant Island, was another island but a little smaller.

One of the very few kingdoms, who rejected the World Government, is the Kingdom of Color.

A very special land, where there is a festival celebrated called Holi.

"Haha! Woo!"

"Take this!"

"Ahhahah!"

The air was filled with the colors of life, thousands and thousands of people outside in the open.

They each were covered with various colors like red, blue, green, etc. With smiles on their faces, they rejoiced without any worry.

The sun at its highest point, shone on the Island with a few white clouds floating around the sky.

𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯'𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺… In the shadows of the buildings, a man walked with light footsteps.

His face was hidden by the metal face mask and his body completely covered with the black cloak.

The two eyes visible from the gap of the metal face mask, flashed with a yellow light in the darkness.

"I must meet the queen. There is not much time left for me here."

The man soon vanished in the shadows while none was aware that someone was present in that alley.

* * *

Rainbow Palace, this is the palace situated at the center of the Island where the queen lives.

Outside in the yard, huge figures were seated around a table in the middle which was tiny for them.

Those huge figures were the giants, one of them was the king of giants, Loki.

"Eat more! It's my day today!"

A voice packed with melody and sweetness sounded in the yard.

With a smile on her beautiful face, the peacock queen in her favorite green dress said to the guests.

There were not only the giants who were invited for Sali's birthday party. Some from the underworld and some from the nearby kingdoms were also present there.

"Yes yes! Eat more!"

The giant king, Loki, cheered and took a large bite of the meat in his hand. The surrounding giants also feasted more.

"Queen Seli, you are beautiful as always! It's like you never grow old!"

The other guest tried to impress Seli with their buttering words only to make Seli sighed.

"You all. I already know I am beautiful! Haha!"

Her laughter was like a song in itself causing the people around her to feel more delighted.

"Queen Seli, will you do the peacock dance today like every year?"

One of the guests, a middle aged man holding a glass of wine, asked with a curious face.

"What do you think?"

Resting her left cheek on her palm, Seli replied to the man with a question.

Her light green eyes stared at the man only for a second yet the man was stunned to even blink.

"Elon. You already know the answer right? Of course Queen Seli will do the Holi festival's most important dance!"

Loki's voice brought the middle aged man named Elon back to reality.

"Haha! Yes! It is so true!"

Elon, embarrassed, laughed awkwardly while trying to hide his burning face from the rest of the people.

"I will. You all should definitely see my dance. I am sure that you will love it."

Seli leaned back on the chair and said with a smile. The feast went on until it was evening time.

* * *

All the people of the kingdom headed towards the largest waterfall in the island.

They held torches made of not fire and wood but a kind of creature like a firefly.

When the moon started to rise higher, the people were all already gathered around the waterfall.

The moonlight shone on the water pool below the waterfall reflecting the world.

Giant King Loki sat next to a huge boulder while the rest of the giants surrounded him.

"It's my first time watching the peacock dance performed by the peacock queen."

Loki said with an excited voice. The giants around him all had already seen the dance at least once with the late king.

"King, you might not know this but Queen Seli is a devil fruit user."

The main guardian giant, Fuka, said. Loki was not so surprised as his interest in Queen Seli increased.

Unfortunately for him, Queen Seli was doomed to be single forever as it's a kind tradition passed on from the ancient times in the Kingdom of Color.

"What devil fruit?"

Asked Loki as he turned to look at Fuka. In his mind, he waited for Queen Seli to show up faster.

"Zoan devil fruit, Tori Tori no Mi. A peacock model. This is a special devil fruit which never once left this kingdom."

Explained Fuka with a deep voice. The other giants nodded their heads in agreement.

"A devil fruit that never leaves this island. How mysterious…"

Muttered Loki. His eyes stared at the silver moon with the black shadows.

* * *

Few hundred meters away from the people gathered, the escort army of the Queen's were coming.

In the middle was a huge palanquin with all the colors painted in various flower designs.

Inside, Seli sat on one side while the other was occupied with the very same man who wore the metal face mask.

"I knew someone was spying on me for a few days but I didn't expect it to be you."

Seli smiled at the man while her mind played some old memories.

"Your father came a few years ago with the same request. My answer is the same as that time."

As she said, her eyes started getting a bit moist but she wiped it away quickly.

"Take me away from here."

As the words left her lips, Seli lowered her face making it hard for the masked man to see her expression.

"Why do you wish for this?"

Asked the masked man with a sigh. Seli's body trembled slightly before tears dropped down her eyes.

"I-I want to… be free!"

When Seli raised her head, the masked man saw the eyes filled with sorrow and pain.

𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥… The masked man closed his eyes and leaned back.

These were the reasons for the queens of this kingdom to die faster.

"Why is it that I am the queen and not my younger sister? Why must I carry the weight of this kingdom while my sister enjoys her life with her very own family? I also want to have a family! A husband! A child!"

Sobbing quietly, Seli clenched her hands and looked at the masked man with some hope.

"Fine. After the dance, I will come and find you."

The masked man said with some frustration while Seli widened her eyes full of tears.

The masked man then held the metal face mask and pulled it off.

A face, half burned with small cracks was revealed to the stunned and shocked Seli.

He was Fenrir, who somehow survived the blast that perished the existence of Maba.

It could be said that he was actually a reborn as his heart had stopped for a while after the explosion making it impossible for Akuma to sense a living human in the sea.

He drifted to an island somewhere in the calm belt where he was saved by an old tribe expert in biology.

"I hope you don't regret it…"