Chapter 12:The Devil Fruits

(Third Person POV)

After hours of torturing the woman, Crow finally managed to break the woman and extract information from her. They learned the woman's name was Mikasa Ackerman and that the island they were on was her current home.

The Lunarian asked why she killed their men, to which she replied they attacked her first, and she had no choice but to defend herself. Crow sensed no lies, so he then asked where the Devil Fruits were, and she said she'd show them, to which he agreed.

"...we're here," Mikasa said quietly, and Crow nodded.

They were at the ruins of a gigantic castle.

"Hey, I already checked this place multiple times!!" Ulti turned and narrowed her eyes at the woman. "This better not be fucking trap, else I'm shoving my morningstar up your--"

"Ulti, she's telling the truth," Crow quickly interjected.

The Oni beauty turned her narrowed gaze to the Lunarian. "And how do you know that huh?!!! Huh?!!! Huh?!!!!"

Crow smirked. "Easy," he leaned toward her ear, causing her to blush crimson as the Oni could feel his hot breath on her skin. "It's because my Observation Haki is better than yours~" he teased in a husky tone that sent shivers down her spine.

He backed away and enjoyed the sight of Ulti turning an even deeper shade of red.

"Show off..." Ulti muttered and cutely pouted.

"Ugh, could you not flirt with my sister in front of me?" Page asked with a tone of disgust.

"Sorry, not possible. It's Ulti's fault for being hot," Crow said with an amused tone.

"How the fuck is that my fault?!" Ulti asked indignantly, and the Lunarian shrugged.

"Just is," he then turned his attention to Mikasa, missing Ulti's eye twitch. "Lead the way," she nodded and entered the structure with the trio following behind her.

They walked around the abandoned castle for several minutes but abruptly stopped in the middle of one of the hallways.

Ulti was about to ask why she stopped, but before she could utter a word, Mikasa pressed her hand against a brick that caused a hidden entrance to appear, surprising the trio.

Without saying a word, Mikasa went in, and the trio continued to follow her. The hidden entrance led them farther down the castle and eventually to a gigantic vault door.

"Huh, not a bad place to keep your stuff," Page commented.

"Yeah, and from the looks of it, the vault is made from a mixture of Seastone and some other type of metal," Crow added, surprising everyone.

"...How did you know that?" Mikasa asked.

"Been around Seastone long enough to memorize its characteristics. As for how I know it's mixed, thats easy Seastone doesn't have rippling patterns," the Lunarian pointed out.

"...I see..." Mikasa then walked towards the vault and touched it.

This action caused the vault to create a few rumbling sounds before slowly opening, revealing the contents inside, which were six massive chests.

"What the fuck?! Where's everything else?" Ulti asked the woman with narrowed eyes.

"It was originally empty when I discovered it," Mikasa shrugged. "The chests you see before you are filled with the loot I've required throughout my adventures."

"Huh, neat. Which one is the one with the Devil Fruits?" Crow asked, and she pointed to the furthest one to the left. He made his way toward it and opened it. "Holy shit!!"

The others rushed to his side and reacted similarly to the Lunarian.

In total, there were NINE DEVIL FRUITS! AND NOT JUST ANY DEVIL FRUITS BUT ZOAN DEVIL FRUITS!!!

Crow was about to ask how she managed to get all nine of them, but Ulti beat him to the punch.

"WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET NINE DEVIL FRUITS?!" Ulti screamed.

Mikasa thought for a moment. "Two months ago, I encountered a group of World Nobles," the trio's eyes widened at that part of the information. "One of them attempted to enslave me, so I killed him, the other celestial Dragons, and their men. Once everyone was dead, I looted their ships and eventually stumbled upon the fruits. So I took them, other valuables, and destroyed all the evidence," she explained as if she were merely talking about the weather.

The trio looked at Mikasa with expressions of horror, respect, and disbelief.

Page pointed a finger at her. "Y-You k-killed a Celestial Dragon..."

"Yeah," she answered nonchalantly as if that wasn't a big deal.

The three looked at her incredulously for a few more seconds and then stopped in favor of doing what they came here for.

"Your unfucking believable..." Ulti commented before walking away and picking two chests.

Page followed his older sister's example and did the same.

"Yeah, we're definitely keeping you," Crow said with a grin, making Mikasa look at him with a frown

"I'm not some animal you can keep," she pouted.

Crow chuckled. "If you were an animal, you'd make an adorable puppy," he patted her head, making her blush and Ulti glare at the two of them. "Besides, you don't have a choice," he gestured to the explosive cuffs around her wrists, making her grimace.

"What's gonna happen to me?" she asked calmly, but Crow could hear the anxiousness in her tone.

"That entirely depends on our boss, I'm afraid, but I'm certain he won't kill you."

Mikasa tilted her head in confusion. "He won't?" he nodded. "Why?"

"He's always looking for strong people to recruit, and you undoubtedly fit that criteria," he praised. "And just as a heads up, when he gives you the choice to join...just make it easier on yourself and join, alright? You don't want to know what he does with the people who refuse..."

Mikasa looked at him and thought for a moment. She then nodded. "Ok..."

He smiled. "Good. Now, let's get these out of here."

(Timeskip)

Once all the chests were stored in a secured room and Mikasa was put in a cell, the youngest members of the Beast Pirates set sail back to Onigashima.

"Why are you here?" Mikasa asked Crow, who was sitting outside her cell.

The Lunarian feigned a hurt expression. "Can't I just get to try and know my soon-to-be fellow crew member?" he asked with a mock, sad tone.

Mikasa rolled her eyes and looked at him with an unamused expression. "I'd prefer if you left me alone...but you're not gonna, are you?" she asked rhetorically, and the Lunarian smirked.

"Oh, I will, but only if you tell me about yourself," he chirped before narrowing his eyes. "And no half-assed responses or an attitude, or else I'll increase the time I stay here," he quickly added, making Mikasa grit her teeth in annoyance.

"Fine..." she let out a tired sigh. "What do you wanna know?" the sooner she could get the Lunarian to leave her alone, the sooner she could have peace.

Crow lips form into a grin of victory. "Well, let's start with the basics, like where you're from, age, favorite foods, hobbies, and goals."

Mikasa thought for a moment before replying. "I'm from an island called Paradis. I'm fifty-five. I don't have any favorite foods. My hobbies are working out and bounty hunting. And I have no particular goal..."

"Wow, you're fifty-five?" Crow's eyes widened slightly. "You look eighteen to me," Mikasa shrugged.

"Genetics," Crow sensed it wasn't a lie or the entire truth, but he wouldn't call her out on it...for now.

"No kidding," Crow chuckled. "What's your Island like?" the Lunarian noticed a faint smile forming on Mikasa's lips.

"Paradis wasn't anything special...there were mostly open plains, with a few mountains, lakes, and rivers scattered around, and the weather was mostly cold. The only thing special about the island was that the trees there could grow up to eighty meters in height, and the capital used to be surrounded by three fifty-meter walls," her smile faded at the mention of the capital of Paradis.

Crow quirked an eyebrow. "The capital used to have fifty-meter walls? As in, they're no longer standing?" she nodded.

"I won't go into the details..." she got lost in thought before snapping out of it and continuing. "But yeah, they were destroyed thirty-five or thirty-six years ago. I can't remember the exact time due to how long ago it was..." Mikasa explained.

"I see...if you don't mind me asking, when was the last time you visited?"

Mikasa thought for a moment. "I think twenty-five years ago...maybe twenty-seven..." she shrugged.

"Ever thought of going back?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"No... let's just say I didn't leave on the best of terms and leave it at that..."

"Fair enough."

"Yeah..." she replied awkwardly. "What about you?" Crow quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Oh?" Crow grinned, and Mikasa regretted asking that question. "You wanna get to know me?~" his voice was teasing. "And here I thought I was the only one invested in this."

Mikasa sighed. "Just answer the question..." She didn't even know why she asked him.

The older woman would be lying if she said she wasn't inquisitive about the boy in front of her. However, simple curiosity never got her to socialize for the sake of it before, so why now?

She mentally shook her head and sighed. Those were questions for later.

Crow chuckled. "Alright, hmmm, let's see...I don't remember much of my past, nor do I recall my true name..." he revealed, inwardly surprising Mikasa. "But I can tell you what I do know. My new name, courtesy of my girlfriend, is Crow. I'm seventeen, turning eighteen on April 4th. My favorite food is steak and fries. I mostly train. However, when I'm not training, I hang out with my girlfriend or friends. As for goals, I have a lot of them, and one of them is that I want to live a long and happy life with my girlfriend and our unborn child," a smile formed on his lips at the mention of his two most precious people in the world.

Mikasa's eyes widened at the last part of his sentence. "You're gonna be a dad?" he nodded happily. "Aren't you scared of being a father at such a young age?" he nodded.

"Of course I am..." Crow admitted. "What guy wouldn't be at my age? However, I'm willing to face my fears and give my all to ensure they and their mother have a good life..."

Mikasa looked at the teen in a new light. She expected him to be like most pirates but was pleasantly wrong. When the teen wasn't kicking her ass and ordering her around, Crow was overall a friendly teenage boy.

She looked for signs of deception and ill intent the entire time they talked but found none. Everything Crow told her was nothing but the truth.

"That's good. Not many people can acknowledge their fears. It takes a person with great character to admit that," Mikasa praised him with a slight smile. However, her smile slightly faltered when she asked. "But tell me...what would you do to keep the ones you love safe?"

Crow's happy expression formed into a cold gaze that eerily resembled someone from her past. She inwardly shuddered when his once bright, joyful orbs turned into empty, cold ones. It was like death and despair were looking right into her soul.

"Everything," it didn't take a genius to understand what he meant by that, and Mikasa hoped he never had to do anything too drastic as she had a feeling if it came down to it, it would be far worse than what happened over three decades ago to her people's former enemies...

"Then I sincerely hope it never has to come to that."

"Me too..."

After a long period of silence, they continued their conversation, and an unlikely friendship bloomed between them.

End.