24 The Devil and The Princess

Me and the Straw Hats are currently resting after an hour of running in the desert escaping any marines or Baroque Works agents pursuing us.

While we were running I was able to learn everybody's names. One name that piqued my interest was the blue haired woman named Vivi, the lost princess of Alabasta.

Now that we're all alone I will finally be able to get some answers to my questions.

I turn to the Straw Hats who were sweating and exhausted from all the running across the desert for 30 minutes without any water.

" so what's Crocodile's plan, he must have told you something while you were locked up. Don't leave anything out, anything he said could be useful".

Most of them including the princess is still suspicious of me. After freeing them and protecting them they still don't trust me. They must still think I'm apart of Baroque Works only helping them so that I can betray them later on.

Their distrust of me is starting to annoy me so I release some of my conquerors haki to intimidate them.

" Look I don't care about your group. All I care about is any information I can get on Crocodile. The only reason I'm here with you now and not chasing Crocodile is that Luffy is Ace's brother".

The group was silent until Zoro spoke out " why should we trust you. How don't we know that you'll help Crocodile instead of us".

Everyone is eagerly waiting for my response but I just burst it laughing.

" hahaha, do you seriously think I would waste my time like that. If I was going to do that I would have already killed you all and taken Vivi to Crocodile". The realization hits them as I could easily kill them all without breaking a sweat.

I start to gradually release more of my conquers haki to the point where some of the Straw Hats are struggling to stand. The sand on the ground around us starts gradually swirling in the air.

Everyone is silent until Luffy starts smiling " shishishishi, he seems like a fun guy". All the straw hats are surprised at Luffy's comment and start to look less defensive towards me but Zoro is still on guard about me.

Even though I haven't spent that much time with Luffy I can already see some similarities between him and Ace.

I'm still releasing my conquers haki waiting for someone to answer me, until Vivi finally steps forward. She explains that Crocodile is going to manipulate the rebels and citizens into fighting against King Cobra.

Then when they're are fighting each other, Crocodile will swoop in acting like a hero to become the new king. I also found out that one of the Baroque Works is going to impersonate as the king to cause further strife.

When Vivi finishes her explanation I stop releasing my conquers haki. When I stop releasing it the Straw Hats stand back up straight and look towards me.

Everyone except for Luffy is nervous about what I'm going to do now. knowing that we don't have that much time we're going to have to divide and conquer. We stand more of a chance of finding Crocodile if we split up in groups of two.

I walk past the group and kneel on the ground. I draw a rough sketch of a map showing where we are. I motion for all the Straw Hats to gather around me. Once everyone is gathered I start explaining my plan.

" well with all the information we have we can tell Crocodile is ready to finally accomplish his plan. the only problem is we still don't know all of it so we're going to split up into groups of two and search for Crocodile. We only have one chance to stop him before he successfully overthrows the king".

Everyone takes a moment to think about my plan. All of them seems to think it's a good idea but I can see Vivi wants to say something.

" What do you want to say princess I'm open to any other ideas".

She's surprised that I noticed " well even if we stop Crocodile the rebels will still fight". she's smart to realise this but I already did earlier when I planned my attack. I was planning on beating Crocodile before it got to that point.

Saving the Straw Hats has destroyed any chances of defeating Crocodile before the rebels fight the royal army. Even though it's a set back I could still turn it around if I can turn the rebels into allies against Crocodile and his Baroque Works.

" That's true princess but what do you plan to do about it". I've heard all about the princess being brave and smart I'm hoping to see if it's true.

For the first time since I've met her she's not nervous or afraid anymore but determined.

" The leader of the Rebels Koza is a childhood friend of mine. So if I can get to him in time I might be able to convince him about Crocodile being the one behind the drought. Then all this needless conflict could be over".

Listening to her I can see why everybody admires her but she's still naive enough to think everybody can be saved.

Taking into account of her decent plan " fine you and me will go to Alabasta while the rest of you try to find Crocodile on your way to Alabasta".

Vivi seems fine with the plan except for Zoro and Sanji " why are going with Vivi, she's better of if it's one us protecting her".

With their little outburst, Vivi and Nami are getting nervous again. while Sanji is getting ready to fight to prove his point.

To be fair to Zoro even though he doesn't fully trust me, he knows we can't waste time like this. So he goes to shut up Sanji but I beat him to it.

Before anyone can react I sprint forward and grab Sanji by the neck and lift him off the ground.

" We don't have time to argue. If it wasn't for me most of you would still be captured or worse dead. While Vivi would most likely be captured by Crocodile already".

I release all of my killing intent and stare into his eyes " so if you really want to die I would happily kill you after we've dealt with crocodile".

I can see he's starting to sweat. When he tries to squirm his way out of my grip I tighten it even more. When he stops squirming and is quiet I release him.

After I finish my threat I stop release my killing intent and walk towards Vivi "hang on Princess this ride is going to be bumpy".

I summon my black wings and grab Vivi. Once I have a firm grip on her hips I fly straight up into the sky causing sand on the ground to rise into the air.

I take one last glance at the Straw hats to see their shocked faces at my action. I return my view towards the sky and fly in the direction of Alabasta.

Zoro's Pov

After watching Vivi fly off with that guy I turn to Luffy.

" Luffy Do you seriously trust that guy with Vivi. Look at what he did to Sanji, he nearly killed him".

All of the Straw Hats look towards Sanji who is still shaking with fear " when I looked into that his eyes, It felt like death was staring at me".

Everyone just sweats at Sanji's confession but Luffy is still smiling.

" He must be a good guy if he's friends with Ace shishishishi".

Samael's Pov

With having no time to waste I fly at full speed soaring through the air. Flying at this speed the air is so fun because I can hear Vivi screaming.

" Are you crazy!. Are you trying to kill me ahhhhh!". I just laugh at her anger.

" hahaha, well princess we don't have time to waste so get comfortable".

She groans at my answer but eventually quietens down. We reach Alabasta in quick time to only see people swarming the streets. They're shouting and are starting to get aggressive by shoving and hitting each other.

I can see the rebel army marching towards the palace. None of them has any armour only normal clothes. Their weapons if can call that are only old swords and spears.

Meanwhile, the Royal Army is preparing to defend with their metal armour with their new swords, spears and shields. They are stationing men on the walls of the palace and men in front of the gates to slow down the rebels.

As were quicky approaching the impending battle Vivi finally speaks " set me down in between the two armies". Finding her newfound confidence amusing I comply with her request.

I dive down towards the ground but slow down as we approach our destination. Once we're on the ground Vivi wastes no time running towards the rebels.

I like her eagerness but seriously how can she be that stupid. I follow after her only to see her surrounded by the rebels.

She decides to be direct which should be interesting to watch. She stands proudly "Take me to your leader Koza. He's making a mistake".

While most of the rebels take offence at her remark, I spot one whos reacting differently. He starts walling towards Vivi and by the way everybody is making way for him he must be Koza.

When he reaches Vivi he's surprised " Vivi what are doing here it's not safe". He moves forward to hug her but she moves away " you're being manipulated, Koza. My father isn't responsible for this drought". At first, Koza frowns at Vivi refusing his hug but then Shocked.

By the looks of Koza's shocked face he didn't expect vivi to say that. He quickly recovers " Vivi I know you love your dad but he must pay for his sins".

Their argument is cut short by the sound of my laughter. Soon as Koza finished his sentence I couldn't contain myself.

" Hahahah, what would you know about his sins. You talk like you're innocent but really you have more sins than he does".

Everybody is enraged by my statement. Koza walks up to me "what would you know. You haven't suffered as we have, you haven't had to watch people die from dehydration because all the rivers and wells have dried up. while the king does nothing to save his own people from the mistake he made".

While the people around us are moved by his heartfelt speech. Me on the other hand I'm not moved one bit. Actually, all I hear is him trying to blame someone to focus his anger on.

After he finished his speech he goes to continue his speech. I stop him before he can by clapping sarcastically.

" Bravo, what a heroic speech. I would actually believe it if you weren't so pathetic.".

Koza tries to protest but I give I signal for him to be quiet. When he sees that I'm not joking comply and quietens.

Meanwhile, I can see vivi out of the corner of my eye with a sad face. Looking at her I can tell she knows I'm right but is still conflicted. To reassure her I give her a playful wink which she blushes at.

Seeing that she is calmer I carry on with my speech.

" You blame the king yet have no actual evidence. All you have is some rumours and even then they're from Anonymous sources".

when I finished my speech a few people around us start to talk.

" Is that actually true?".

" Thinking now the king has always been kind towards us".

" If the king didn't do it who did?".

The crowd and the rebels are starting to become more and more divided. With the rebels starting to become more divided it proves my earlier theory.

Crocodile has people in the rebels as spies and supplying Koza with lies to make him fight.

knowing this means I can now finally enact my attack plan.

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Hey, guys I know I've been away for longer than I said I would.

I apologise I just needed a break and some time to think about this story. I've been wondering should I rewrite past chapter or just carry on.

Let me know your opinion and thanks again for reading my story. the feedback I've received of you guys has been insane.

p.s. I'm starting a Black Clover fanfic but it does not mean I will drop this book. In reality, I'll switch between the two.