Cursed (1)

{A/N: As I wrote chap 48, I realized I forgot all about Vivi's duck... sorry. It really just skipped my mind. I know I could say this is a complete AU and the duck is in Arabasta because I intended as such but that would be a lie. But since I forgot... now, the duck will be in Arabasta... as I intended...}

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"You look worse than usual," Reiju leaned down to peck Brody's lips after she commented on his state. Groaning, he shook his head as he saw everyone either sleeping on the floor or over the table with most bounty hunters already leaving before dawn including Vivi and Igaram.

"I can't sleep... remember? I just said it last night. Weaker enemies can be dangerous, too... and I still haven't found the ghost who took Vivi the first time or touched my shoulders..."

Reiju blinked in surprise and chimed, "You really have changed a bit."

Smirking in response, Brody shrugged, "Well, can't just act like a brat forever and risk your lives."

Reiju hummed and spoke, "I'm off to take a bath. Our Log Pose is already set for the next island so we can leave the moment they wake up."

"Yeah," Brody shrugged.

"Terrible news!"

Igaram suddenly burst through the Tavern's door while shouting loudly, "Our Eternal Log Pose to Arabasta disappeared somehow!"

His words only earned him a chorus of tired groans as the girls turned their heads in a different direction and continued to slumber without care.

---

"This is really terrible! Without the eternal log pose, who knows how long it will take us to reach Arabasta!" Vivi panicked alongside Igaram as Nami questioned from the sidelines, "What is Eternal Log Pose in the first place?"

"Well, it's a log pose that would forever remember the magnetic flow of an island in grandline and is used by many transportation services across the sea," Reiju replied.

"Isn't there any other way to reach Arabasta?" Tashigi inquired with another pair of red-framed glasses adorning her face.

"Strangely, all the Eternal Log Poses have disappeared. Most likely, this is an act of the same individual who took Vivi-sama back then..."

'But why didn't that person kill Vivi?' Brody wondered while sitting on top of Pinky's head as everyone had already boarded the ship. They were about to leave for the next island without any knowledge of what it was or how to get to Arabasta as the agents from Baroque Works exclusively used Eternal Log Pose temporarily provided with each mission. As they left, a few agents saw them off including Mr. 9 who was Vivi's partner before.

"Well, not like we can do anything else but move forward," Brody grinned and looked down to pat Pinky's head before his eyes widened and his hand froze where it was.

His red pupils watched a pair of unblinking blue eyes that stared back silently and looked a part of Pinky's head itself!

But the moment Brody blinked, he found the eyes disappeared and he would have wondered if he was seeing things if not for the fact that he was pinching himself with the other hand the entire time...

"What... was that?" He gulped slightly and for the first time... spooked.

The day turned a bit uneventful for Brody as he found nothing out of the ordinary afterward but for Igaram and Honey, things couldn't be far from extraordinary as they saw Brody doing a handstand for an hour with Mikita on top of him and Reiju flying next to him in a low-cut pink dress with a parted purple cape that seemed to act like wings!

But this was far from it. Igaram saw other crewmates train until they couldn't move!

As the Commander of Royal Guards of the Arabasta Kingdom, Igaram was undoubtedly strong but even he wondered if most of the guards could win against Tashigi or Alvida. Others felt like an amateur even in training and Nami focused more on navigating and keeping a check on the surroundings rather than tiring herself out but in the end, he realized that this crew was no ordinary one even if Vivi had already briefed him somewhat.

The one who felt the most out of the place was Honey instead of Vivi and Igaram. The latter two knew their place and even if they were welcomed into the structure they built over the center of Pinky's back, they kept to themselves and barely had any private questions to pose to the crew. In fact, after Vivi came out clean, she found herself well-accepted and even admired by Tashigi since nobody expected a Princess to go to such great lengths for her country. A compliment that Reiju, a former Princess, chose to utter while sharing a meal.

However, Honey couldn't find common ground with others easily. It wasn't even the other crew members giving her the cold shoulder. The fact that Brody accepted her temporarily provided others enough reason to treat Honey normally but unlike Vivi and Igaram, her situation was much more ambiguous.

But there were a few who did find her to satiate their own needs.

"So? I just have to attack you?" She questioned with a hesitant expression and now wore a fur coat over a corset-like strapless yellow dress that fashioned around like a one-piece swimsuit and left her legs bare. Alvida stood straight with a determined expression and nodded, "Yeah, just attack, and I'll try to dodge it. Even if you do strike, it won't hurt me."

Pursing her lips, Honey raised her hands and launched a barrage of liquid bullets that flew at a speed so quick and pressure so fierce that it tore into the trees behind Alvida!

But seeing Alvida truly unhurt, Honey decided to attack with even more ferocity.

---

Nightfall soon encouraged others to take a rest and while Reiju and Tashigi offered to take turns for lookout so that Brody may rest, he chose to stay up. Even Pinky had returned to her shell to sleep and rest for the next day's journey as they moved at a pace quite quicker than others.

As others slept, Brody chose to scout Pinky's forest. That weird pair of eyes still haunted him somewhat and despite searching everywhere, he failed to find anything out of turn. Yes, Brody would appreciate a good night's sleep but he could always sleep while standing up or eating.

Just when he felt like taking a break, Brody found his gaze attracted to a pair of blue eyes now watching him intently from the bark of the 'apple' tree. Staring right back at it and this time using his thumb and index finger to keep his eyelids from closing involuntarily, Brody entered into the stubborn staring contest that lasted for minutes. His eyes were somewhat dry by now, even bloodshot.

But as if this wasn't crazy enough, a finger suddenly appeared from the flesh of his right palm and poked him in the eyes.

"Hey!" Brody growled, finally forced to close his eyes but the moment he looked at the tree, once again, the mysterious pair of eyes was gone!

"Sneaky fucker..." Brody grumbled under his breath and rubbed his eyes while feeling irritated. He wanted to smash this unknown individual more than ever! But he was also confident in his skills and knew that no one was hiding on Pinky's back. At least, not like a normal stowaway and this made it clear to him that someone could be following them.

Looking around, Brody spoke loudly, "Ah, I'm tired... maybe I'll sleep right here. Hope nobody sneaks up on—"

"Boo!" A voice startled Brody just enough to make him jump a dozen feet up but as he looked down at the source, he found nothing.

Veins began to pop over his forehead and he finally snapped, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU HIDING?!!"

His shout was loud enough to wake others up in a start as they, too, rushed out and kept a watchful gaze around only to return empty-handed.

---

"Maybe it's just your imagination," Mikita was the first to dispense Brody's concerns and walked off to the kitchen to just be at peace since Carmen was the only one who would work while humming her own tune and come off as not bothering to the lemon-dressed bounty hunter. Meanwhile, others had a greater belief in Brody except for Honey who stayed because it's her place to.

Frowning for a second, Alvida scoffed, "Why don't we just sleep out here together from now on? Everyone will keep the watch for an hour."

"Nope," Brody declined flatly, "I'll find this son of bitch—" his words were cut short as she suddenly flipped off the table, causing others to yelp in surprise while he stood up and looked around quickly, "It's here! It just touched my leg!"

Finding nothing, Brody stepped out as Nami called out, "Where are you going?"

"A swim! I won't go off too far but whoever it is has to be nearby!"

As he left, Igaram couldn't help but look at Vivi, "Vivi-sama... you must remain safe. I may not impose upon you to sleep near me but during the day you must not leave my sight!"

"Isn't that impractical?" Nojiko questioned, "Instead of letting our fears run us to the ground, we should just move on... after all, we can be hurt even at this point now that Brody isn't here. It's obviously a ruse to spread irritation and frustration among us."

Everyone looked at Nojiko who smiled, "I suppose, we can stay close to one another but if we lay rules that restrict our private space, we'd just get pissed off at one another."

"Nojiko is right..." Reiju frowned.

"Aaaghhh!"

A scream from the kitchen alerted the group as Alvida was the quickest to reach by letting herself slip on the surface of the wooden floor to find Mikita who clung to her torn dress with a shocked expression.

"Igaram! Out!" Vivi kicked the man out as an even more boorish one rushed in, "What's going on? I heard a scream!"

Brody looked around and then glared at Mikita pointedly, "Can you not strip in the middle of nowhere? And I had such a great plan to just jump up on the sky and search around instead of swimming."

"She's obviously not stripping!" Tashigi looked at her captain with a sour expression but Brody looked at Honey instead, "You're the expert. What do you think?"

Pursing her lips, Honey shook her head and Brody sighed, "I see... that's it... I know what's going on."

"You do?" Mikita frowned while nodding as he unbuttoned one of the shirts they picked from Whiskey Peak and placed it over her shoulders.

"I do... and I didn't want to believe it. But... could it be that it's not a devil fruit ability... but a curse?"

A few like Tashigi gulped as Brody revealed with a grim expression, "My mother used to tell me bedtime stories about devilish curses of the sea. Tales that cannot be unraveled. Legacies and Myths that even a pirate must never pursue... She used to say that a day will come when the world we have will end. It will start with various signs... She said..."

By now, Brody held everyone's attention with how somber his tone had gotten. It mattered not that it was still bright outside as even Reiju experienced goosebumps as the man whispered, "She said... the end will start when the Wall of Gods fall and there is only man. Maybe this is one of those curses?"

"Whatever it is..." Nami took a deep breath and whispered, "It's not outright aggressive. Let's hope this is just a devil fruit ability and not something weirder... but if this is an act of a Devil Fruit User, why isn't he or she revealing themself to us?"

"Those are some crazy bedtime stories..." Alvida muttered under her breath, "No wonder you turned out this way..."

As everyone pondered, Honey looked around with a pale expression and couldn't help but reconsider her position once again.

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Alternate Title: Loyalty Tested

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