Chapter 20: Family
Sabo hastily jumped over a swing and tried to retaliate with a downward swing but the figure was quick to react and their weapons collided as a result. He tried to overpower the offender but he wasn't strong enough and was launched back as a result.
He landed upright and yelped as another swing, this time from the left, came with unforgiving force towards him. The blonde tried to quickly throw up a defense but it wasn't enough to completely block the blow and he was sent flying until he landed on the floor with a tiny "oomph".
Before he could get up, the staff that had been attacking him, lay gently on his throat. A clear sign to surrender that Sabo had no choice but to take.
"You're way too strong," Sabo huffed, lying on the ground in defeat. In the corner of his eyes, he could see Luffy charging an attack for Ace and accidentally punching himself in the process.
The 10 year old brunette didn't appreciate that and immediately finished their fight up with an angry face.
The four boys were finishing up their 100 matches and Luffy was paired up with Ace, leaving Sabo to fight Rosan.
The redhead hadn't lost a single one of the matches today and he didn't even look winded in the process. Worst, he was holding back and he never used the same weapon twice in a row!
"This is supposed to be training so I will limit myself to just above your level to allow you to get maximum benefit from it," Rosan reasoned and Sabo grumbled at the logical answer.
There was no point in him finishing the fight in one hit. He gained nothing from it. Like this, he could train them while simultaneously deepening his understanding of the weapons he used. It also would add to their experience if they ever fought someone who wielded one of the many weapons he used.
"You're improving," Rosan commented to the resting boy and his bo staff transformed back into a ring. "I think you're the best of the three with that metal pipe," he said and Sabo grinned.
Ace was a physically stronger then him but Sabo was better at using their pipe so battles between them were usually really close. Today, Ace had managed to get two victories over him but there were days where he would get more victories.
Luffy never won any of his fights but that never deterred him. He was determined to catch up to the three who were much stronger than he was and it was admirable.
Battles with Rosan were only deceptively close due to his penchant of fighting just above their level.
He fought very slowly with Luffy in order to guide the young boy and if it were Sabo or Ace in the seven year old's position, they'd probably beat the redhead.
He didn't give the two 10 year old boys the same luxury. They were much stronger than Luffy was and he fought them accordingly with Ram (when they learned that his ring was the psycho Ram, their jaws had dropped to the floor).
"You think I'm the best with the pipe?" Sabo said thoughtfully and Rosan nodded.
"Luffy has no affinity with weapons and Ace relies more on brute force than technical skills. Those two are more similar then they probably want to admit," Rosan hummed and Sabo cackled at that. Ace and Luffy, if given the choice probably would just prefer to punch instead of using a pipe.
"I didn't expect you to be so good with a pipe," the blonde pointed and Rosan looked at Ram.
"I'm quite adept with multiple weapons. I don't use the staff too often, but it is one that I have practiced with," Rosan explained before transforming Ram into an array of weapons that left Sabo's eyes sparkling.
She even transformed into a sword! A real sword! When sparring with them, every weapon he used was of a wooden variety so as to not cause real injuries... which was funny because they still hurt like hell.
No wonder he hadn't been afraid of Porchemy! He probably saw real swords all the time!
"How did you even get Ram? Is she a Devil Fruit too?"
"I made her with my Devil Fruit... and some science," Rosan hummed. He idly wondered about making another Philosopher's Stone before discarding it. The redhead could only make the stone using Modification and because of that, it was only perfect for users of Modification. He had wanted to make one for Maro but it wouldn't have worked and the redhead didn't need to make another one for himself.
By now, the two brunettes had finished their argument and were listening in to the conversation as well.
"That's awesome! Mod-chan is a really useful Devil Fruit," Sabo praised. Man, some Devil Fruits were really cool! Rosan warned the boy not to compliment her too much because her ego would grow and he'd have to deal with it.
He then lightly grabbed his head for some reason.
"See? Your ability really is stupid," Ace mocked Luffy, much to the child's fury. "Rosan can do all these things and you turn into rubber. You're so useful."
"My Fruit is super cool! I've got plenty of unbeatable attacks! If they worked you wouldn't be saying that!" the boy scowled and Sabo sighed in exasperation.
"THEN THEY AREN'T UNBEATABLE, YOU DUMBASS!"
Here they go again. Those two argued about anything and everything no matter what it may be. It was up to Sabo to dissuade them from continuing because Rosan was always content to watch their squabbles (Mod-chan told him it was because Ram found it so funny.)
"You have a fat mouth for someone who lost every single match today! You couldn't even beat Rosan when he was fighting that bad!" Ace sneered.
"YOU CAN'T BEAT HIM EITHER AND HE'S APART OF MY CREW SO THAT MEANS I BEAT YOU!" Luffy roared and Sabo nearly choked on his laughter at the seven year old's logic.
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE," Ace roared back and he tackled the boy, fed up with his antics. "DON'T BE SO COCKY JUST BECAUSE YOU MANAGED TO FORCE ROSAN INTO YOUR CREW! IF ANY OF US ASKED FIRST, HE WOULD HAVE SAID YES!"
"BUT I ASKED FIRST AND NOW HE'S MINE," Luffy replied and the two were off.
"Luffy did not ask. He just demanded I join and I didn't care enough to say no," Rosan told Sabo and the blonde snorted in response. That sounded exactly like what Luffy would do, the boy was extremely demanding.
The two watched the Ace and Luffy brawl in a comfortable silence before Sabo decided to speak up.
"Who would you have picked to join out of the three of us?" Sabo asked curiously. Maybe Ace since that was his little brother? It made the most sense and Rosan did come here for the freckled boy in the first place.
"You. You're the least problematic and the most resourceful. Ace has no tact and will try to fight every single person we see and Luffy doesn't think... which doesn't bode well for me in the future. Though, Luffy's nature would probably give the most exciting adventure," Rosan commented without hesitation and Sabo beamed at the honest answer.
The redhead paused for a moment. "Don't tell them I told you that."
Sabo laughed loudly.
"Luffy made some friends," Rosan said and Makino looked at him with wide eyes. Really? Her little Luffy had made some new friends?!
"Don't worry, they are problematic but not as much as me," he assured and the 19 year old rolled her eyes.
"That makes me feel so much better," she replied dryly, handing him a plate of food that he accepted with ease. It was quickly becoming a routine between the two that Makino was beginning to enjoy.
He was helping her out again while the three kids did whatever it is that they did. Rosan agreed with the notion that he was too much of a handicap currently, so he chose to stay out of their business unless they asked him to come with.
When he did that, he would leave them to their own devices and visit people.
Most of the time, he was helping Makino in her bar. He didn't want to visit Maro and Co. too much for obvious reasons.
"I'm surprised you're willing to help me," Makino said happily. "Do you need the money? Is that why?"
"Money?" Rosan tilted his head at the woman and she gushed. "No, I don't need money. To be honest, I won't be lacking money for a long time," he replied and she raised a brow in curiosity at the redhead's statement.
Looking at the way he dressed, it made sense that he would have money… But did he really have that much?
"I have earned a lot of money over the years. I could reliably pass off as one of those high end nobles in the Goa Kingdom," Rosan informed her and the young adults mouth opened in surprise.
He was loaded! The teen probably never had to work again!
"So why do you come here then?" The woman asked, genuinely curious at what his response would be. If he didn't need the money then there was really no reason for him to show up and help her. Was it to get in her good graces since she had practically raised Luffy?
Rosan hummed and Makino wondered if he could sing. He had a very nice voice and even though puberty was causing it to change in pitch (he really was 14!) it still sounded good.
"This village is boring," the teen said bluntly, causing the green haired to protest a bit. I-It wasn't that bad! The quaintness of the town was rather endearing once you got used to it!
"There are not much people close to your age and I'm sure the Red Haired pirates added a spark of interest to your otherwise mundane lifestyle."
"You really don't have to be so rude about it, Rosan," Makino grumbled, sulking at his harsh assessment on her life. He had a tendency to say mean things in the most neutral voice ever and she seriously didn't know if it was intentional or not.
"You hang out with the mayor the most and that man is one of the most uninteresting individuals I've ever met."
That made Makino giggle. "Mayor Woop Slap isn't that bad!" She tried defending his honor. He was a worry wart and pretty boring but to call him the most uninteresting individual, was just him being rude!
"If you insist. If his company is enough to keep you sated, I will stop visiting," Rosan told her and she shook her head rapidly in denial.
She wouldn't defend him that much. The redhead visiting was the best part of her day! Not only was he nice to talk too, he kept the rowdy customers, man and woman, at bay! He was a blessing in disguise.
"So you visit to keep me company?" Makino asked, causing Rosan to nod. She flushed in appreciation and gave him a quick hug that he didn't return, but didn't reject.
"That's surprisingly sweet of you!" She beamed. He may have been rude and brutal, but if you looked past that, he was actually a decent person!
"Thank you," he replied, finishing off his plate and getting up to go wash it. Before he could do so, Makino took it out of his hand to do it herself and he blinked at her but conceded.
Makino looked at him with an assessing gaze for a moment, deep in thought. "You're too young right now but maybe in a couple years…" she muttered. He was already a looker now and it was likely he still had a couple more years to grow... The constant influx of woman constantly hounding him made it hard to miss his good looks.
Rosan glanced up and caught her searching gaze. "I'm not attracted to you," was all he said.
"I take back what I said about you being sweet," she grumbled at the bluntness of the boy.
"Ah, I wasn't intending to be rude. You are attractive but I'm not attracted to you," he clarified and she rolled her eyes.
"Not making me feel any better, Rosan," Makino sighed in exasperation. Honestly, he was the strangest boy ever. He wasn't the only one who patrons flirted with. She had her fair share of people who tried their luck with her but apparently his lack of interest in the opposite sex, extended to everyone.
Unknown to the green haired woman, a certain purple haired woman was death staring her so hard, it was a miracle she hadn't turned into dust yet.
"You know Auntie, Father is surely going to do the deed when he's older," Ram pointed out with a cheeky grin on her bronze face. "What will you do when that time comes? Stop him? I don't think that's very fair!"
"I-I won't stop him... I'll just cry in a corner at the thought of my boy finally reaching adulthood," Mod growled and Ram merely shook her head in amusement.
"So you won't mind if he's an adult?" Ram was surely playing with fire right now but the girl wasn't the wisest when it came to these things. Sometimes, Rosan thought she was a masochist because of how frequently she went out of her way to agitate Mod-chan.
"…" Mod grit her teeth and mechanically turned her head towards the cheeky weapon. "If... Rosan decides he wants to indulge himself in the future, I won't stop him because that is... a natural occurrence. But... he needs to be of age, otherwise I won't allow it."
Saying that sentence seemed to physically hurt her and Ram practically signed her death wish with the next statement.
"Auntie Mod, Father is good looking and hardly ever rejects anyone. If a woman makes an advance on him, isn't he just going to say yes to her? How many women do you think he'll attract? Just look at what's happening at this bar!"
"…"
"We'll probably have to cut the connection too. I for one, do not want to see Father having you know what. I'm sure you want to see it less then I do."
"…"
"Auntie Mod? Are you ther — Ow! Stawp, pleash!" Ram suddenly whined and it was clear that her cheek was being mauled by Mod's delicate hands.
"Stop trying to anger me, child!" Mod barked and Ram nodded rapidly, still pleading for the woman to let her go.
Why did it hurt so much?! It was only her cheek getting grabbed?! Why could she never break out of it no matter what she did? Auntie Mod had a freakish amount of strength!
Rosan wisely said nothing. He just sipped on his tea with a calm expression on his face.
He learned early on not to interfere with their talks. It never went well for him.
"You know...," Rosan began expressionlessly, looking at… whatever this was supposed to be. "...I can just use my Devil Fruit to disguise you three, right?"
He was currently looking at a "disguise" of the 3 boys and that disguise, was just the 3 of them piled on top of each other, with a long cloak covering them completely.
"Eh?" A voice from the middle called. "You can?"
"Yes Luffy, I can," Rosan confirmed slowly and, as if to prove it to them, his hair turned blonde and his eyes turned electric blue. "Look."
The cloak opened and Mod rolled her eyes in amusement. Ace was at the top, Luffy was in the middle and Sabo was at the bottom. Rosan couldn't join them because he was too tall and they would stick out even more then they already did.
"Huh, that would have been good to know," Ace muttered, looking at his, now blonde, brother. "But we've already committed to this so we'll do it next time! That'll make it even easier in the future when this trick gets discovered."
Rosan merely nodded his head at that and allowed them to close their cloaks. If it worked, it worked. Who was he to doubt their plans... His own had been rather eccentric as a child.
"Idiots," Ram laughed cheerfully.
"So if you can disguise yourself…" Sabo mused. "You can modify your height right?"
"That's right," Rosan confirmed.
"Alright! Do that and get in here!" The blonde beamed and Mod groaned in disbelief. Were they really about to add Rosan into the mix? She felt rather embarrassed to be doing something like this.
"Okay," Rosan agreed and his eyes began glowing.
"Modify Age: 10," Rosan intoned and his body shrunk rapidly, while his features softened. Soon, he looked much closer in age to the three boys and Rosan paused.
"You three are far shorter than I expected," Rosan said. He had thought he was small for his age but the three misfits were positively tiny in comparison.
"See! I told you it was natural to be so short, Rosan," Mod grinned. He had caused such a fuss as a child and now look!
"You look way younger," Ace remarked and the other 2 nodded in agreement.
"My growth spurt was very sudden and recent," Rosan told them. He stared at the disguise in contemplation before quickly coming to a decision.
"I'll get on the bottom," the redhead said and they nodded in agreement. After a short struggle (Luffy forgot where he was supposed to go), the tower of four dragged the crocodile corpse into the city.
"How stupid are these people for this to be working?" Ram gaped in confusion. Seriously? No one was doubting them? No one had decided to stop them even once?! She knew there were tall people in the world but c'mon! They had such a suspicious cloak on!
Rosan mentally shrugged. Despite the few odd looks, they had managed to make it into Edge Town, a place where thugs stayed, with only one person stopping them, that person being the guard.
After showing them the crocodile, the scared guard had quickly let the very tall man through.
As they walked, a group of thugs surrounded the four.
"Hey pops! You should leave your package here," a man smiled smugly at the "lone" individual.
Ace, who was at the top, said nothing which only served to aggravate the group of men.
"Hey, why don't you say something?!"
"Shut the hell up, punk," Ace finally replied before Sabo slammed a pipe on his leg and tripped him up.
The man let out a yell of surprise and the boys finally decided to reveal themselves.
"When you mug somebody, be careful who you pick!" Ace declared, pulling the cloak off and revealing the four hiding underneath it.
The three local menaces were immediately recognized, though Rosan was sure they were trying to figure out just who he was.
What followed next, was a beat down on the idiots who tried to rob them. Rosan, with his smaller body, fought like he used to which involved maneuvering around his opponents and crushing them with momentum and flexibility.
"The animals are more of a challenge," Rosan muttered at the broken bodies before him.
"This is why we tell you to stay out of the fights," Ace tsked, but he was impressed at how quickly Rosan changed his style to fit his smaller body.
Was that how he fought when he was younger? It was an ideal fighting style for someone his size but he would still need some power behind his blows... Not that he was lacking any.
"My apologies," Rosan commented, already getting ready to get back into their disguise. "They would have no benefit to you all growing stronger so I chose speed over experience."
"Yeah, yeah, let's just sell this damn thing," Ace grumbled jumping to the top and wrapping the cloak around their body again.
It didn't take long for them to enter High Town and find someone that was willing to buy the crocodile skin. After some choice words from Rosan, they got even more money then was offered!
"I'm glad they paid so much for the skin! Rosan, who knew you were so good at haggling?!" Sabo exclaimed in awe. The redhead had been relentless, adding information that had managed to sway the greedy merchants and showing a clear willingness to sell to someone who would be more interested.
It had worked like a charm!
"Rich people don't often pay attention to how much money they are spending. Spin a tale and they will be eager to pay for it."
"I'm hungry!" Luffy whined like the glutton he was.
"Just a little longer. We'll have great ramen noodles!" Ace assured.
"I am quite fond of ramen," Rosan said suddenly and Sabo raised a brow at that. "They are not as good as pasta, but they are very good and I learned how to make them a while ago."
"I don't know what ramen is but if Rosan speaks highly of them, then it must be good!" The blonde exclaimed. "You can make it too?! If it's really good you can cook it for us when we want some!"
"You can cook?" Ace asked curiously. That explained why he never ate with the bandits.
"I can," Rosan confirmed. "I can show you all one of these days on my ship. I have many ingredients in stasis."
"...You have a SHIP?!" Sabo eyes bugged in surprise.
"I do. Her name is the White Rose and she has been my ship since I was 4."
They were about to grill him more but Luffy's stomach grumbled loudly.
"I'll show you it after we eat," Rosan finished and they voiced their agreement.
They arrived to the restaurant and entered without haste, only to be stopped by one of the employees.
He made a hassle about how they weren't supposed to be there and Sabo showed him some gold medallion that had them immediately identified as nobles. They were then escorted into the VIP room and given 4 servings of ramen to indulge themselves in.
"So this is ramen?!" Sabo asked in excitement, popping his head out of the cloak.
"It looks good!" Luffy drooled, popping his head out of the other side.
"Try it!" Ace grinned and the three dug in.
Rosan watched them for a moment before taking a bite of his own. It was good, but he had better. They didn't have to come back here, the redhead would make them ramen whenever they wanted some.
Ram snorted as the boys asked for more and more plates, heedless of the poor lady that was being run ragged due to their demands.
The redhead wasn't even remotely surprised that it was Luffy that blew their cover. He watched the youngest idiot stretch his arms out to grab a plate out of the ladies hand and she screeched in disbelief, collapsing on the floor before running off to, no doubt, inform someone of the situation.
"We're gonna have company soon," Rosan said, as he did a quick Scan and sensed multiple people heading to their direction.
The door burst open and the head chef came through in a rush. "Sir, we need to talk!" He said and the 3 other boy's eyes widened.
"Damn, they found out!" Ace yelled.
"Let's go!" Sabo yelled back.
Rosan watched the three idiots burst through the window that was very high up and shook his head. After a moment, he dashed after them and neatly jumped through the created hole.
"Thank you for the meal," the redhead told them, before gravity did it's job and dropped him.
"Someone catch them! They didn't pay!" A voice screamed and the four children took off.
"You know, I could have paid for that," Rosan commented idly, as he stayed behind the boys to ward off potential danger. "Surely it would have been easier then this."
"Yeah, but this is more fun!" Ace commented with a wild grin, sliding between the legs of a guard.
"You do have a point, it is more exciting," the teen replied, conceding.
Rosan made note of every person they ran past, in case they tried something and so he caught a wealthy looking man's eyes widening in recognition.
Oh?
"Sabo!" The black haired man called, making the blonde look back in surprise. Rosan didn't miss the look of horror and recognition that crossed his features before he wiped it from his face.
"Sabo! Wait! You're alive! Come back home!" He demanded but Sabo kept running.
Ah, so that was his secret.
Interesting.
"Sabo! He's calling you," Ace noted.
"Who is that guy?!" Luffy asked with his mouth still full of noodles.
"He must have mistaken me for someone else! Let's go!" Sabo replied, trying to appear dismissive and they kept running at his words.
Rosan slowed down to look the man directly in his eyes and he was seemingly satisfied to see him avert his gaze.
Then, he turned around and kept running, deftly dodging anyone that stepped in his way.
"What? I'm not hiding anything!"
"Really?"
"Of course he is, Luffy! Tell us, Sabo!"
Rosan remained silent.
Sabo looked at the three other with a nervous gaze. Ace and Luffy were hounding him while Rosan just stared with a blank, knowing gaze.
"We can't have secrets among us!" Ace declared and Rosan looked at him for a moment.
"We can't?" He asked with a tilted head. He didn't know about that rule... Was he next?
"Shut up for a second, Rosan," Ace grunted before turning back to Sabo.
"Okay," he replied and Sabo could have sworn he saw Ram glow for a second. Knowing the weapon, she probably didn't appreciate Ace telling Rosan to shut up... but she wasn't that crazy...
Yeah, it must have been nothing.
"Who does he think he is!" Ram barked, eager to show the little brat how much she appreciated him telling her Father to shut up.
"It's not a big deal, Ram. You can be calm," Rosan instructed, banishing the glow from his ring. Honestly, why was his weapon so unhinged all the time?
"Fine," she grumbled. Ace was in for a world of it when he got into the mindscape.
"Tell us," Ace and Luffy demanded at the same time.
Sabo was content to remain silent and Ace took that as a sign to step up his interrogation.
He, along with Luffy, grabbed the blonde boy and began violently throttling him. "Tell us, you bastard! Or I'll beat it out of you!" Ace demanded with a scowl and Sabo tried to desperately fight them off before giving up that plan.
"Agh! I'll talk! I'll talk," the choked boy said, tapping out.
"Such a violent way to get answers!" Mod mock gasped.
"I like it!" Ram beamed.
"Of course you do."
"...Why does that sound like an insult?"
Rosan would rather they not get this violent with him. All they needed to do was ask and he'd probably tell them. He trusted the three.
Not Luffy though. Luffy had no clue how to keep a secret.
"The son of a noble?!" Ace said in confusion.
"Who is it?" Ace and Luffy asked at the same time.
"Bless their dumb souls," Mod said fondly.
"I am!" Sabo exclaimed in annoyance and he watched in disbelief as the two stuck their fingers in their nose and said, "And?"
He felt his annoyance spike and roared, "YOU TWO ARE THE ONES WHO MADE ME TELL!"
"Luffy and Ace are way too similar," Rosan hummed and his two companions snorted in agreement.
"The truth is, both of my parents are alive. So I'm not an orphan and I didn't grow up in the Gray Terminal," Sabo began in a somber tone. "The man who called me today... was my father."
Ace's eyes widened in surprise at that.
"I was lying to you guys. I'm sorry."
"He apologized so it's okay with me! I forgive you," Luffy said simply and the boy smiled, anger forgotten... if it was even there in the first place.
Rosan had plenty of his own secrets so he didn't harbor anything. This only seemed personal to Ace and so he'd let the freckled boy dictate the conversation.
"I don't get it," the freckled boy said suddenly, facing away from them all. "Why would you do it? Why would a noble run off to live at Gray Terminal?" The 10 year old wondered. He was living a life of wealth and would never have to worry about being ridiculed or going hungry... so why?
Sabo's eyes wavered a bit and Rosan was sure he was reliving some memories, because that's how he used to look when he was younger.
"All they care about is wealth and status. They don't give a damn about me," Sabo began with a grave voice.
"If I can't marry a girl from the royal family, I'm no better than trash. So they forced me to study and take lessons every single day. Then they'd fight if I couldn't learn fast enough… I was just a nuisance in that house," the blonde muttered. Living with his parents, was its own kind of hell and Sabo would replace it with anything else, so long as he got to make his own choices.
"It seems that whenever I meet someone of royal heritage, their life is anything but good. Being born with royal blood doesn't always equal a pleasant life," Rosan said quietly, thinking back to Sanji.
"…" Mod had an unreadable look in her eyes as Rosan said that and if he had seen it, he would have questioned her.
Ram did see it, however.
"Auntie, what's with that look in your eyes?"
"It's… I'm just thinking about the past," Mod said vaguely and Ram just nodded in acceptance.
Rosan was very perceptive though. He always was when it came to his Devil Fruit. "I wonder Mod-chan, are you thinking about your past… or are you thinking about mine?"
"…"
"Hm," Rosan hummed but dropped it. He didn't care enough to delve deeper and if Mod wanted to tell him, she would tell him. If it was important, she would not hide it from him. His surrogate mother would not go out of her way to endanger him.
Besides, he didn't particularly care about his birth parents so he wanted nothing to do with them. If she knew about them, she could keep it to herself. As far as he was concerned, his mother died giving birth to his younger brother and his father was the dumbest man on the planet.
"If…" Mod began hesitantly. "If it's of significance, I will always tell you. But I don't think you would care about this information so I didn't bother mentioning it."
"I'll leave it up to your discretion. Whether you tell me or not, is completely up to you. I trust you," Rosan replied bluntly, ending the conversation between the two.
Mod frowned slightly at that and bit her lip in contemplation. Maybe she should tell him what she knew?
"I may not be an orphan, but I've always been alone," he said sadly.
"Nobles have a low opinion of the Gray Terminal but it's better than the stifling High Town where your life has been arranged for years to come."
"I'd rather be in danger and loved, then safe and unloved." The words he declared to Garp, whispered in his ears at Sabo's declaration.
"So that's how it was," Ace mumbled in thought.
"I think you made the right decision," Rosan said softly.
Unlike him.
"Ace! Luffy! Rosan!" Sabo suddenly stood up and pointed out to the expansive blue ocean. "We gotta set out to sea someday! Let's get out of this country and live freely!" The boy exclaimed in excitement and his eyes were full of wonder, as he gazed at the beautiful sea.
"I wanna see the world out there and write a book about it! Let's become stronger and become pirates someday!" He yelled to the heavens and he pumped both fists into the air at the prospect.
Ace and Luffy grinned.
"I'm gonna become one — you don't have to tell me to!" Ace declared with a confident grin. "I'm gonna become a pirate and defeat others and become infamous! It'll be the only proof of my life!" the freckled boy exclaimed, looking up at the sky.
"It doesn't matter if all the people in the world reject me or despise me, I'll become a great pirate and show them what I can do! I won't run from anybody or lose to anyone! Because I'm feared or hated or whatever, my name will be known all over!" The boy finished and Rosan stared at his brother.
He cursed Roger for placing such a burden onto Ace but at least the boy was taking matters into his own hand. His little brother shouldn't have to feel like his existence was worth proving, but everyone else had hammered that idea into him and this was the result.
Hopefully, he achieved his goal. Rosan would be rooting for him the entire time.
"I got it! Alright then…!" Luffy said excitedly running up to Ace. The 7 year old took a deep breath before he screamed to the world "I WANT TO BE…!"
Ace and Sabo gawked at his declaration and even Rosan raised a brow at it. This was why he believed that Luffy would do everything in his power to become King. Because he genuinely believed it.
To the boy, it may as well have been a statement for the future.
Ace scratched his head in exasperation. "You fool… I was wondering what you'd have to say…" he sighed and Sabo laughed heartily at the youngest boy's antics.
"You're funny, Luffy! I can't wait to see how you turn out in the future!"
"You all have good dreams," Rosan said softly, looking up at the sky. "Don't ever forget them. Sometimes when things get hard, that will be the only thing pushing you forward."
"What about you, Rosan?!" Luffy asked his scout curiously. "What's your dream?!"
Ace and Sabo looked at the mysterious redhead with equal amounts of curiosity. Come to think of it, Rosan had never actually shown interest in anything! They knew he had come here to find Ace and ended up joining Luffy's crew, but his ambitions were lost to the three boys. He was more than strong enough to set sail already but he seemed content to watch, and sometimes join, their antics.
They wondered why...
The redhead blinked at them, dead eyes glowing dimly. "Me? I have no dreams anymore," he said quietly, much to their surprise. "I just want to find a reason to live now."
Rosan was no dreamer. His dreams had died with Meiko.
The three looked at Rosan rather somberly and he sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin the mood," he apologized. This was why he had opted to remain quiet. His bland nature gave him quite the serious air and it could dampen the mood sometimes.
"Tell us what your goal was and why you don't have it anymore!" Ace demanded. His brother had been making an effort and the freckled boy could begrudgingly admit that he was beginning to appreciate it, so he wanted to know more about the enigmatic redhead.
"Yeah! You said we would exchange secrets and since I've told mine, it's time for you to pay up!" Sabo grinned cheekily.
"Tell us since I'm your captain!" Luffy declared childishly, beaming happily.
"Seems like you can't deny them," Mod said fondly.
"They've got you cornered, Father," Ram laughed.
"They do. I'm completely trapped."
Rosan trusted them. They were good kids and far too honest to ever betray him.
"When I first met Mod-chan, she told me about how much people were going to come after me to get their hands on her, so I wanted to be the strongest in the world," Rosan began softly, grabbing their undivided attention.
Even Luffy was serious!
Rosan remembered the day vividly. He had been only four when he made up his mind to do everything in his power to protect Mod-chan. If it meant becoming the strongest, then well he'd just have to do it. There had been no doubt in his mind and it had remained that way for a long time.
"If I became the strongest, no one would ever think about messing with my loved ones and I'd be able to keep them safe from harm. I wouldn't be able to feel the pain of losing them because that's a pain I can't handle," he admitted and the boys could sense that something had gone terribly wrong.
"But, even after all my years of training... I wasn't able to keep the one I loved most, safe and she died in my arms because of it, while I was utterly helpless to stop it. I was supposed to be strong for the both of us because she couldn't be strong but in that moment, I felt like the weakest person on the planet."
Desperate tears landing on the face of the person he loved. A soft, loving smile meant just for him. How that love had not wavered for even a second in her last moments. How even with her dying breath, she was still able to keep firm in her beliefs.
How she could so confidently say, "I love you," to a failure.
Meiko was weak, but she was so much stronger than him.
Sabo gasped in horror at the knowledge and regarded the teen in a new light. That explained the lack of emotions and the blonde couldn't even blame Rosan for becoming like this. He felt a well of pain surging inside of him at the agony Rosan must have been put through and he admired the redhead for still being able to continue.
Ace already knew this but to hear Rosan go into detail, made it sting all the more. His older brother had been dealt a terrible hand and this was the result.
"When my lover Meiko, died in my arms, a big piece of me died with her. It sapped me of all of my ambition and right now, I'm no different then a ghost hanging on to one last thread. Her last thread. Her last wish for me, was for me to live for the both of us until I could find a new reason to live and so, that is what I will attempt to do until I die," he told them, voice a near whisper.
For Meiko's sake, for Mod-chan, for all the people who relied on him...
"That's no way to live…" Sabo whispered sadly. It was torturous. Rosan wasn't even properly living! He was just passing the days by right now! "Are you okay?" He couldn't help but ask.
Rosan closed his eyes momentarily. "I have not been okay for a long time."
"I'll help you," a tiny voice declared and Rosan looked at the source. Luffy's hat was being hidden by his, too large, straw hat but he looked up at the redhead with pure determination. "I'll help you, Rosan!"
"We'll go on the biggest, best adventure ever and I'll make you say you found a new reason to live! You'll become the strongest, just watch!" Luffy declared with the utmost confidence and the three just stared at the boy with varying reactions.
"That's going to be hard to accomplish," Rosan informed the boy. "I've been trying for two years with little to no success."
"I don't care! I'll do it because you're my nakama and I'm your captain and we're friends!" The boy said simply, leaving zero room for argument. Rosan was apart of his crew so Rosan was his responsibility until their journey was finished!
"Well if you put it that way, I guess I have to help too," Ace grinned. His brother may have left him in the past, but it had been with good intentions. He just wanted the infant to be safe and that was not something he could guarantee him. It hadn't worked out, but his brother had been four, there was no way he could have predicted this outcome.
"Alright! Count me in! I'll help you get better because I like you, Rosan!" Sabo joined in and the redhead looked at them all with his dead eyes. It used to bother Sabo how expressionless they were, but after learning about his past, it only filled him with determination.
Rosan stared at the three, digesting their declarations before bowing his head (he never bowed) and saying, "Thank you all, I appreciate it. I'll put my full trust in you all."
Before they could say anything else, they watched with dropped jaws, as Rosan's hair turned purple and he gender swapped into his Devil Fruit!
They didn't even know he could do that! What the hell?!
Mod stared at the three with tears brimming in her eyes and she scooped the boys up into a bone crushing hug. "You three have no idea how much I appreciate your words," the woman choked out. She had been about to burst into tears when Rosan had told them of his former dream but she actually did when the three showed their unconditional support.
She loved these little menaces! They were all so kind!
Ace and Sabo flushed at the proximity. T-They had not been expecting to be in such close proximity to the purple haired woman... ever!
"G-Get the hell away from me! Y-you're crushing me in your huge boobs," Ace said crudely, struggling to get out of the deceptively strong woman's grasp. She looked dainty, why was she so strong?!
Sabo was too embarrassed to say anything and decided that staying frozen, was the best course of action.
Luffy… hugged the woman back as best as he could, completely unbothered by the proximity. "Modi!" He squealed before freezing as a realization seemed to hit him.
"DID YOU KILL ROSAN?! WHERE IS HE?!" Luffy screamed in horror. That realization made the panicking boy struggle even harder than Ace currently was.
The purple haired woman sweatdropped at the sheer panic on the seven year old's face and the two ten year old's wanted to slap their heads at his antics.
Ram looked at Luffy with a nervous expression on her bronze face.
Was this idiot really gonna be the one to save her Father?
"I just realized that all of us want to be Captains," Sabo muttered.
"I wasn't expecting that," Ace said truthfully. "Sabo, I thought you'd wanna be navigator on my ship."
"If not for my shift in personality, I'd likely be a Captain too," Rosan hummed. "I can't stand taking orders from people and it leads me to doing my own things when I disagree with them."
"I guess it's a good thing you joined Luffy's crew, I don't think he has a brain to give out orders," Ace mocked with a grin and Rosan nodded in agreement.
"You can all just join my crew!" The boy in question declared happily, not even realizing he was being insulted.
"NO THANKS!" Ace and Sabo immediately roared to the younger boy.
"Huh?!" The boy gawked in disbelief before stomping around. "I said you can join so you have to join!" He complained. Didn't they know they'd be sailing with the Pirate King? Rosan knew! Ace and Sabo were so stupid!
"That'll never happen, idiot!"
"Yep, never!"
"What did you just say?!… But that's okay. I already have Rosan!"
"You gave up way easier on them then you would have on me."
"Eh? You asked to join!"
"...Don't just make things up, Luffy. You didn't give me a choice."
The two ten year old's laughed at Luffy's confusion.
"Well, let's just leave it until the time comes," Ace remarked, as he walked up with a bottle of sake. "Maybe we'll go our separate ways."
"Oh, you stole that from Dadan!" Luffy pointed at the bottle in recognition.
"Aren't you all a bit too young to be drinking sake?" Mod remarked, though she made no effort to stop it. There was probably a good reason for this so she'd let them indulge themselves. She was still beaming with happiness at their willingness to help Rosan, so she'd let them get away with it.
"Did you guys know?! We can become brothers if we exchange this cup of sake!" The freckled boy grinned, removing the top from the bottle.
"Brothers? Really?!" Luffy beamed in excitement.
"When we become pirates, we might not be on the same ship but our brotherhood will always be with us!" Ace explained.
"There's four cups," Rosan pointed out and the three looked at him like he was stupid.
"There's four of us," Luffy explained slowly and Rosan was honestly surprised he could count.
"You're including me?" The teen wondered, tilting his head to the side. The question seemed like it was for everyone but the redhead was staring intently at Ace.
The other two followed suit and Ace was subjected to the gaze of three people. He shuffled a bit at the attention before coughing lightly.
"I meant it when I said I don't consider you my brother," Ace said bluntly and Rosan nodded at the reminder of their conversation. "But… we can become proper brothers now."
"You... mean that?" The redhead asked softly.
"...Yeah, I wouldn't offer to help you if I didn't," Ace replied with a shrug.
"And you two? Do you also think I should be apart of this?" Rosan asked the other two boys.
"Of course!" Sabo exclaimed.
"Duh, stupid," Luffy beamed.
Rosan paused for a moment before a burst of warmth flooded his body.
Mod and Ram gasped in wonder at the sensation.
The three boys watched with wide eyes, as Rosan flashed the largest smile they had seen on him yet. It was nothing impressive, not even showing teeth, but it was completely visible.
"That… makes me happy," he eventually said and as quick as it came, it was gone again, leaving Rosan empty. He idly touched his heart at the feeling vanishing, before letting his arm hang limp.
"You smiled!" Luffy cheered and the two other boys grinned.
Mod felt tears well up at the sensation and she couldn't stop herself from letting out a happy sob.
Ram wasn't even hiding her tears. She had never met her Father with emotions after all.
"Maybe it's not as impossible as I thought it was," Rosan said blandly, thinking of that feeling. It felt... nice. He had forgotten what it was like to be happy. He wouldn't mind feeling like that all the time...
He wondered how he was able to feel momentary bursts of his emotion with the castle sealed so shut. Maybe the chains weren't as tight as they appeared.
Maybe the problem was that he needed to be willing to accept all his emotions. Even the negative ones.
"Alright! Let's drink already!" Luffy said impatiently and the four boys grabbed their cups.
"Wherever, whatever, we'll always be bonded together!" Ace said happily, grinning ear to ear.
"So from now on, we're brothers!" He declared and they all toasted their cups together to solidify it.
Rosan was currently on Celadon, explaining everything that happened so far to his old travel companions.
"Brothers? So all three of them are your brothers now?" Demon asked, looking very interested in his tale. He never expected Master to be... doing this honestly. It was surprising to hear about his numerous adventures but he was happy that their former leader could actually relax now.
"So Ace forgives you?" Angel asked and Rosan nodded. She beamed at that information. It placed one less burden on Master's back and that was a huge win in her book.
Maro was deep in thought, which was becoming a more common sight due to her royal duties, after listening to Rosan explain everything.
Finally, she slammed a fist against her palm, attracting the gaze of all of them. "KANNA!" The princess screamed suddenly.
Demon looked at the princess with a raised brow and Angel let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Screaming for people is rather unprincess like, don't you think?" Demon asked in amusement, as tiny rapid footsteps made their way to the door.
"Y-yes, Princess?" Kanna squeaked, opening the door and the girl turned red, at all the eyes suddenly looking at her.
"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you speak," Rosan commented and the girl almost fainted at seeing her Princess' master there. S-she had not been expecting to see the redhead.
"Kanna doesn't really speak often! Angel thought she was mute for the longest," Maro cackled and the female clone rolled her eyes.
"It must be because Master and I look so similar," the redhead scoffed, lazily staring at Maro's assistant and successfully intimidating her. "She should be more like Rin, he isn't as annoying and knows how to tell people apart."
The black haired girl squeaked and hid behind Demon, who pat her in response.
"She's not scared of Demon," Maro pointed out and the purple haired clone snorted.
"Most of our citizens prefer me over Angel because I don't go around terrorizing them with death glares," he laughed. Angel really needed to get herself under control sometimes. She didn't even pretend to like people and very blatantly showed her disgust. It would definitely bite her in the ass one of these days.
She was lucky that she was dating the ruler of the island.
"Don't care! None of them are Master so their opinion doesn't matter to me," she shrugged uncaringly.
"What about me?! Do I just not exist anymore?!" Maro asked in shocked confusion.
"You have no choice but to like me," Angel replied with a wave of her hand, dismissing her completely.
"Aren't we getting a bit sidetracked?" Rosan questioned.
Kanna watched in awe at how quickly they snapped to attention from his words.
"Oh, right!" Maro exclaimed and the Goblin Princess turned towards her hidden assistant. "Kanna! I'm going out for a few days! You and Jin are in charge!" She beamed.
Jin was the 33 year old son of Jun, the old man who had requested Maro's assistance. He was competent enough that, outside of Angel and Demon, the princess could trust him to not mess anything up!
The eight year old blinked owlishly and pointed at herself nervously. "M-Me?" She sounded fearful as she asked that and Maro nodded without hesitation.
"You don't gotta be afraid! You watch me like 24/7, you got this!"
"I'm pretty sure she actually does watch you 24/7," Angel grumbled in amusement.
"Well of course she does, silly! She's my assistant," Maro beamed like the social idiot she was.
Angel wasn't intimidated by the fact that some tiny eight year old was harboring a crush on her girlfriend but if she were, she'd have nothing to worry about because Maro was a moron. A loyal moron, but still a moron.
"You're absolutely right, Maro. Sometimes, I can't compete with your intelligence," the redhead clone said, voice monotone and she began exiting the room. "I'm going to go pack."
"I should probably do that too," Demon said, getting up and leaving as well. He would have to let the hospital know that he'd be gone for a bit too... and Rin. The boy was still as attached to him as ever and he probably wouldn't react well to the knowledge that the doctor would be gone.
"Hey, wait for me! You guys have no respect for your princess," Maro complained, dashing out of the room.
Kanna paled at the realization that it was just her and Rosan left. She looked left and right, looking for anything to distract herself with and realizing that the room was impeccably clean.
For someone so carefree, Maro sure was neat... she wondered how much Angel had to do with that before quickly discarding that thought. Thinking of Angel scared her...
"You're afraid of me for all the wrong reasons," Rosan said suddenly, not even looking at the girl due to his eyes being closed.
She flinched at his words but remained silent.
"You should stop comparing me to Angel, that's one of the reasons she hates you," Rosan informed the girl. "You're afraid of me because you're afraid of her and you see how much she looks up to me. That's stupid and it offends her deeply. Also, have you ever actually apologized to her for stealing her purse?"
The girl's eyes locking onto the floor, was all he needed to know.
"If you want her to tolerate your presence, learn to separate the two of us or she really will get fed up with you. Maro can't and won't protect you forever," the redhead finished.
His words were harsh and she felt herself tearing up but he was right. Kanna couldn't avoid Angel forever because the girl preferred to stay in the castle and if Maro had to pick… Well, it was a no brainer.
"What should I do?" Kanna asked quietly and Rosan hummed.
"Stop being so afraid of everything and stop comparing us. That's all you can really do and eventually, Angel will warm up to you if you're sincere enough."
The girl nodded and remained deep in thought until the three returned.
"I'm ready to goooo!" Maro exclaimed excitedly and the two behind her, rolled their eyes at her energy.
"Okay," Rosan replied.
"I won't be gone for long, Rin," Demon assured, patting the shorter boy on the head. The twelve year old looked unconvinced but he nodded reluctantly.
Rosan glanced at the boy attached to the youngest triplet. He looked much better now and seemed to be recovering well from the knowledge that he wouldn't be seeing his dad again. He was never going to reveal the man's true fate for his own sake. It was unfortunate that his father was such a problem, but that's just how the world worked.
"Princess Angel…" A squeaky voice called, grabbing the middle triplet's attention. She regarded Kanna with curiosity, surprised that the child was directly addressing her and the girl took that as a sign to continue.
"I'm s-sorry for everything," she bowed lowly, hoping the haughty clone would accept it. "I've never apologized for all the things I've done and I really regret that."
"Oh, you're forgiven," Angel replied bluntly and Kanna blinked owlishly.
"Huh?"
"Did you think I was gonna not accept your apology? You realize your mistakes and you're sincere about it so I forgive you! I'm not someone who's gonna keep a grudge for no reason, not my style," the clone replied with a shrug of her shoulder.
"I will keep a grudge though if you keep delaying my trip with Master!" She glared.
"R-Right!" She bowed again but the little assistant had a smile on her face. Kanna was wrong about Angel, she may have been scary and mean, but she would tolerate you as long as you didn't give her a reason not to.
"If that's all," Rosan said quietly and the three clambered around him.
"Thank you Rosan-sama!" Kanna said with a large smile on her face and the redhead nodded.
"Think nothing of it," he replied.
"Rosan-sama...?" Maro muttered with a glinting eye. "Look at you Master! I knew Kanna had a crush on you!"
"You really are an idiot sometimes, Maro," Rosan said, gently patting his student on the head. Maro's mouth opened in outrage but Angel's low growl of impatience, successfully silenced her.
With that, they vanished.
When Dadan walked outside, she had not been expecting to see the four brothers interacting with three extra people. Her jaw dropped in confusion and she rapidly looked between them.
"Rosan, who are they?!" Luffy asked curiously. Ace and Sabo looked just as curious and they didn't miss how two of them looked very much like Rosan himself.
"Do we have siblings that you didn't tell me about?" Ace demanded, looking at Angel and Demon in confusion.
"Ace. Sabo. Luffy." Rosan began pointing at each one in order. "These are Angel, Demon and Maro."
"These three are my brothers," Rosan told his old travel companions, pointing at the boys.
"These two are my clones and this is my student," he in turn told his brothers, pointing at Angel and Demon, then Maro.
"C-Clones?!" Sabo asked in shock. He had his own clones?!
"Clones?!" Luffy asked in excitement.
"You can make clones?" Ace wondered in surprise and Rosan nodded.
"I use clone in the loosest terms. They simply look like me but they are very different," Rosan informed the trio. Besides appearance, there were actually not much similarities the three shared. To call them clones of himself wouldn't be doing the two justice.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Angel," the female clone introduced herself and they all shook her hand. She decided to be on her best behavior today because Master acknowledged these people as his brothers! That automatically made them good in her books.
Maro pouted glumly at the attention the two clones were receiving and Rosan simply pat her on the head.
"So this is where you stay," Demon stated, looking at the bandit's home. He noticed Dadan and waved politely at the surprised leader.
"You must be Dadan, it's nice to meet you," The purple haired clone said kindly, introducing himself in the process. She waved back dumbly, not sure how to respond to the fact that she was looking at 3 Rosan's.
"These three used to travel with me before we went our separate ways," Rosan explained to everyone listening. "I made Angel and Demon when I was nine and I met Maro when I was twelve."
"We're not accepting three more, there's no way we can do that," Dadan shook her head rapidly in denial. Rosan was already bad enough and didn't listen to a thing she said. Adding more to her already cracking plate was going to destroy her mental.
Angel looked over at her and sneered. Master only barely mentioned this one so the redhead felt no qualms about being her usual self.
"Who'd wanna live in this crappy shack anyways?" The redhead scoffed. "I can't believe this is where you're letting Master sleep! Garp was it? I need to speak to him about this," she sneered and Dadan looked this close to throttling the teen.
"Ah don't mind her!" Maro immediately jumped in the conversation before Angel could make an even worse first impression. "And don't worry, we won't be staying here! We are just visiting and once we're done, we'll go back to the castle!"
…
"CASTLE?!" Dadan asked in shock. W-What was she talking about? Just who were the people that this redhead knew?!
"Huh?" Maro tilted her head in confusion. "Master, do you never talk about me? How don't they know I'm a princess?! Why aren't they interested in me?! I'm the coolest one here! I'm hurt! I won't forgive you for this!" she whined, childishly pounding her arms into Rosan's chest.
The redhead patted her apologetically but let her throw her little tantrum.
"PRINCESS?!" Dadan screamed.
Rosan tilted his head. "I told you this before, Dadan. Remember when I told you I was visiting a princess?"
"YOU WERE TELLING THE TRUTH?" She roared in disbelief.
"If I don't have to lie, I won't lie," he responded bluntly.
"You're his student?" Ace asked curiously, sizing the kimono wearing princess up and down. Today, her kimono mostly hid her lithe figure so she didn't look like much of a fighter to them.
"Yep! I was Master's right hand and I was a pretty damn good one," Maro flaunted with a cocky grin, hand on her hips, as she puffed her chest out. Ace's eyes widened in recognition and the girl's mouth opened in surprise at that. Did he perhaps know that Rosan was Reaper?
Wow, Master really did trust these squirts!
She made eye contact with Rosan and a quick conversation seemed to happen between the two.
Eventually, she nodded and said, "You guys like to fight too, right?! Let me show you what I'm made of! Master and I haven't sparred in forever."
The three boys grinned in excitement.
The boys had quickly learned that Maro was a monster and Sabo meant that literally!
She even had a Devil Fruit too, just like Rosan!
After hearing Maro's words, the four brothers led their guests into their sparring clearing with varying degrees of excitement.
Luffy wanted to see more from his future crewmate! Rosan didn't try very much when fighting either of the boys and since Maro was his student, he was bound to show something new!
Sabo wanted to see what his fellow noble could do! She definitely dressed like royalty and so he was finding it a little hard to believe that she was a fighter.
The blue haired princess was dressed in a simple white kimono, with floral motifs all over, that hid her tall frame and she had a pure silver tiara on the top of her head. To finish off, she had dangling sapphire earrings that were very similar to Rosan's own ruby ones.
Ace wanted to see just what Reaper's partner, Grim, was capable of.
He didn't know anything about the Shinigami's Demon besides the fact that they didn't always have a partner. Grim had shown up out of nowhere and even less was known about them then the already elusive Reaper.
Now he was about to see the both of them fight?
That would be fun!
"Master, it's been too long so I hope you don't mind if I let loose a little!" Maro grinned eagerly. Her dumb Master had gotten her this strong and left her with no one to spar with! How utterly inconsiderate of him!
Rosan's response was to modify the field around them. The floor turned into an arena with a barrier and the spectators seats were placed up high in a way that would protect them from collateral, while allowing them to still watch with little issue.
"Awesome!" Luffy gasped in awe.
"We should keep it like this," Sabo said and Ace nodded in agreement. It looked pretty damn cool right now and would make their training feel more... serious!
"Today is the day I finally get a win!" Maro grinned savagely, and her sharper than normal fangs, seemed to glisten. It may have been a trick to their eyes, but it looked like the white streaks in her hair were growing more numerous.
"She's never beat him?" Sabo wondered and Angel snorted.
"Nope not even once. Maro-chan hasn't been fighting for as long as Master. She's may be a prodigy but he is too."
"Mhm," Demon nodded in agreement. "Even with her Devil Fruit, Master still manages to comfortably beat her without issue. We have to listen to her whining all the time as a result."
"Devil Fruit? She has one too?" Ace asked in surprise before he noticed Maro's entire form changing.
"WHOA!" Luffy gasped with starry eyes at the transformation.
She grew a solid foot and now towered over, the formerly taller, Rosan. Her skin turned a light shade of green and her lithe figured grew much more muscular. The Princess' azure blue hair with pale streaks, turned fully white and her pupils vanished, showing her pure orange sclera.
"What is that?" Sabo asked in awe. He had never seen a monster like that before! What type of creature was it?!
"A Dokkaebi," Demon informed them, telling them about the mythical goblin.
"Wow, every time I hear about a new fruit, I realize how lame Luffy's is," Ace remarked smugly, much to the seven year old's outrage. If not for the prospect of the fight sufficiently distracting him, he would have jumped on Ace (to lose handily).
But Maro wasn't done.
Her earrings glowed and transformed into a white and blue battle dress with sleeves that stopped at her elbow and a skirt. She wore long, knee length white boots and long white gloves that met where her sleeve ended.
Seeing such a massive and intimidating monster wearing a battle dress, was actually very funny.
The Goblin Princess roared and summoned a massive wooden club.
"Hm. Not using your hybrid form?" Rosan asked curiously. His armband expanded and wrapped around his body, seamlessly forming into his own raid suit. The black coat moved in time with the wind and Ram transformed into a set of familiar black gloves. The redhead began idly stretching and his dim gaze began glowing slightly.
"Gotta ease into the performance, Master!" She rumbled and Rosan nodded along.
"I've taught you a little too well," he hummed and the two sized each other up.
Everyone watched with bated breaths at the two staring each other down, waiting for some unseen signal that would begin their battle.
A single leaf floated gently down and the moment it hit the floor —
The two burst into action.
A gigantic wave of blue flames shot towards Rosan, that was countered by the teen raising the floor into a wall. The flames began bathing the makeshift wall but didn't pierce them due to the redhead modifying its sturdiness.
He tensed his legs and vanished behind the wall, unseen by Maro, only to appear behind the giant goblin. He was about to take a swing with his left leg, but he suddenly pivoted on his right and delivered a strong punch behind him.
The crowds confusion, turned into surprise at hearing flesh connect to flesh and the image of the hulking Dokkaebi wavered a bit, before disappearing.
The grinning Dokkaebi suddenly appeared where Rosan punched and swiftly grabbed his outstretched arm before he could pull it back. She hoisted the smaller teen up by that one arm and tried to ruthlessly slam him to the ground.
Rosan wasn't going to let it be that easy though.
A massive tail burst from behind him and wrapped itself around Maro's neck mid fall and he slowly halted his downward momentum, due to trying to pull her down while she resisted. Rosan's tiny pupils turned into slits, as he opened his mouth, showing off his razor sharp teeth.
A burst of draconic fire made Maro instinctively release him, despite her raid suit being fireproof and she leapt back from the teen, after forcing him to unsummon his tail to avoid it getting grabbed by her unforgivable grip.
She cursed herself from the mistake but didn't dwell on it for too long because Rosan was already on the move again. Fighting him was such a pain because he hardly ever stopped moving.
The Dokkaebi squeaked, which sounded more like a roar, as a massive blast of energy nearly collided with her. She cracked the ground beneath her when she jumped high over the blast, only to gasp at seeing Rosan already there.
His gloves transformed into a pair of giant gauntlets and he delivered a double axe handle to the skull of the Goblin Princess.
Maro went careening towards the floor at rapids speed and crashed with a thunderous thud.
Rosan floated down gently, still on high alert, and transformed Ram into a bo staff just in time to block a tremendous strike from Daisy.
"Done messing around?" Rosan asked calmly and Maro, in her hybrid form, grinned.
"I can say the same to ya! Things are gettin too excitin for ya to be holdin back!" The green skinned hybrid grinned, slipping back into her old dialect and they broke off, leaping back a safe distance from each other.
Maro's entire outfit ignited in blue flames and Daisy followed suit.
"This is just sparring you know?" Rosan hummed before activating his boost. "If you want to go all out, either we fight in the mindscape, or my Pocket Dimension."
Maro ignored him and vanished from her spot.
The most annoying thing about fighting Maro, Rosan learned, was her tendency to abuse her invisibility with her ability to reposition herself with those blue flames.
"Modify: Vision," Rosan intoned calmly. It was not wise to fight Maro like this unless he modified his vision to view heat signatures.
The only issue, was that Maro had finally thought up a counter his eyes. That made ending the fight a tad bit more difficult.
The entire arena was engulfed in blistering flames and Rosan heard Ram suck her teeth in annoyance.
"Who told her to fight smart?" the weapon snarled and she transformed into a brilliant silver and black bow. "Take to the skies, Father."
Rosan was already moving. Without even thinking about it, he activated Shinigami and his Angelic wings burst from his back, allowing him to take to the skies with one flap.
Right now, the ground was Maro's domain but it was impossible for her to take the sky from him. He was much more mobile then she was and his wings allowed him to be more aerodynamic then her, in comparison, stiff flames. His former partner was well aware of that and if she came up here, it would be very bad for her.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't be giving her a choice in the decision.
He aimed his silver bow, as if he already had an arrow drawn, and was satisfied to see energy beginning to form. The redhead began condensing it greatly, turning it into the shape of the ammo he was imagining.
His bow didn't actually have arrows to use and creating them would be a hassle, so he used the energy he gained from Germa combined with modification to form his own ammunition for the bow.
All the spectators gaped in awe at the battle they were currently watching. These two were amazing! They were putting on one hell of a show and the familiarity in which they fought, spoke of countless battles with and against each other.
"Those wings…" Sabo muttered, staring intently at Rosan's feathery appendages. Beautiful obsidian wings, that seemed to devour the light around them. That sounded oddly familiar.
Maro let loose a string of curses as it began raining destruction on the field in an attempt to hit her hidden form. She was forced to dodge arrow after arrow and she just knew Rosan could, and would, keep this up all day.
Curse her Master! This was cheating!
She would be playing right into his hands by doing this but she had no choice and that irritated her beyond belief.
That's what he was probably thinking at least. Too bad the princess wouldn't make it that easy for him.
Rosan blinked as flames suddenly appeared around him and above him, preventing him from going higher. He was forced to descend lest he get hit by them and they followed him, intention's made loud and clear.
They wanted him back on the ground.
Clever girl.
He was not aware Maro could control the location that her flames spawned so adeptly. She must have been keeping up with her training.
Good. Celadon needed a powerful queen.
The moment Rosan's feet hit the floor, he was attacked by Maro. The teen turned his weapon back into a bo staff and blocked the wild swing from the hybrid Dokkaebi. The ground beneath him began crumbling from the force of the blow and she began grinning wildly. To make matters worse, the flames from above were speeding up to crash into him.
The redhead was about to divert the force of her swing so he could gain distance but he lost some of his balance as Maro suddenly released her hold on the club and dove in to grab him. He caught himself and leapt back but the slight delay, gave her enough time to propel herself forward with her flames and wrap her arms around his waist.
Before he could react and find a way to break out, the bluenette hoisted him up and body slammed him into the ground with tremendous force, once, twice and three times before slamming him a fourth time and at the same time, her flames reached their destination, crashing into them both with a loud boom.
Maro blinked at the lack of sound the body should have made when hitting the floor before she realized that Rosan wasn't in her grasp anymore. Almost as soon as she made that realization, the ground itself began attacking her and the floor began moving to restrain her completely.
"What a bullshit Devil Fruit," she complained.
The Goblin Princess tried to make some distance, but a gauntlet covered hand grabbed her foot from underneath the ground and a previously shrunken Rosan burst upwards from the dirt, back to his original size. He took the flailing Dokkaebi and began flying with her in tow, dangling her so she couldn't properly hit him with full force.
As they reached a sufficient height, Rosan suddenly angled himself downwards and started plummeting with Maro still in his hand.
Maro groaned in defeat and tried to transform into her full zoan to throw him off a little but Rosan's grip was unforgiving. He didn't even seem to register the added height and weight and kept flying unimpeded.
This was gonna hurt.
A resounding boom reverberated throughout the clearing.
"Owww," Maro whined as the dust cleared. She had reverted back into her human form and Rosan had dispersed his wings.
"I think this is a good place to call it," Rosan commented calmly, stretching his body. Maro hit hard and his back did not appreciate those body slams.
"You only say that because you would be the winner," she groaned but didn't argue against it, glancing at him pleadingly.
Rosan picked the Princess up and she lazily sagged into his arms with a happy sigh. The redhead adjusted her a bit and palmed the floor so that he could repair all the damages.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" A voice screamed and Rosan watched two rubbery arms wrap around his neck. Luffy crashed into him with excited glee and the redhead glanced at him with a tiny smile.
"You two are so strong! That was so cooool!" The seven year old awed and Maro beamed.
The other's approached at a much more moderate pace.
"You've both improved," Angel praised. It was always impressive to watch how much stronger those two were than her.
"I'm proud Master, I thought I'd have to patch up Maro after you guys were finished," Demon smiled softly, eyes roaming the two to make sure they were perfectly in tact.
"H-HEY don't you mean the both of us?!" The princess whined.
"I've been learning restraint," Rosan hummed. He couldn't go around killing everyone in his normal fashion with the children watching.
"You literally slammed me from the sky, jackass!" Maro said in disbelief. That had not felt good at all! Did he think he could just slam anyone from that height and they'd survive?!
"You're durable. At worst, you have a small headache. You sure weren't complaining when you body slammed me four times with that monstrous strength of yours," the redhead pointed out and she crossed her arms.
"Still hurt and you're durable too. Do you know how hard it is to take you out of a fight? You're literally insane." she grumbled. She was convinced that unless you killed him or thoroughly incapacitated him, Master would continue to fight to his last breath.
"Rosan," Sabo suddenly called. "You're Reaper, right?" He asked and Rosan simply nodded, not seeing a reason to keep it secret from them any longer. Ace already knew anyways and they weren't allowed to hold back information from each other.
"That's right. Out of habit, I summoned my wings but there's no reason for me to hide it from you all," he told the blonde, who could only stare in wide eyes as he digested that information.
"I am Reaper and that is Grim," the redhead said, pointing at a grinning Maro.
Sabo looked between the two with wide eyes at the revelation. Ace's older brother was actually Reaper?! That was insane! No wonder he didn't care whatsoever about Bluejam and his crew!
The teen had been hunting pirates for years now as a sport! They really were nothing to him and he had a bounty of 500 million!
The redhead was incredibly dangerous. Sabo was glad he was their brother!
"What's a Reaper?" Luffy asked in confusion, tilting his head to the side.
"A mystery person," Rosan replied instantly, satisfying the boy. It was imperative that Luffy not know much about Reaper. The little boy absolutely would reveal his identity by mistake.
"Ah, okay," he replied with a nod and they all sweatdropped.
"So you are Grim," Ace muttered, looking at the princess in a new light. Despite looking like royalty, she acted anything but and she took Rosan's attacks like a champ.
"You're Ace right?!" Maro asked excitedly and she got close to the boy to shake his hand rapidly. "Nice to meet you! Master has told me so much about you!"
"He has?" Ace blinked before an embarrassed blush overtook his features. "I didn't say you could talk about me, Rosan!" The freckled boy grumbled in annoyance.
"Sorry, Angel and Maro are demanding." Rosan didn't sound sorry whatsoever but the two he mentioned, had the decency to look sheepish.
"I like to know anything and everything about Master!" Angel beamed and Maro nodded in agreement.
"We can tell you about ourselves!" The bluenette exclaimed excitedly. "Let's get food! I miss Master's cooking!"
Luffy immediately started salivating at the thought of food. "Let's hunt a deer! I want venison," the boy demanded and his brothers nodded.
"Hunt?" Angel and Demon blinked. They never expected her Master to so comfortably live like this but he had been wild as a child so this probably didn't bother him.
"Hunt?! I wanna come, lemme come!" Maro demanded, grinning eagerly at the prospect of chasing an animal. That sounded really fun!
"I can make a feast then," Rosan hummed. "I'll be using the White Rose to cook everything in that case. I should have extra food in there too. Angel, could you help me prepare everything while they hunt the food?"
"Of course!" Angel gushed. She got to spend time with Master and that was always a reward in her book!
"Demon, there is a capital over there and the 4 of us are not allowed in," Rosan began, taking out a large amount of money and handing it to the youngest triplet.
"You want me to buy drinks?" The purple haired teen asked, not even phased by hearing that the 4 brothers were banned. Based on what Master had told them, he was surprised that they were not outlawed on the entire island.
"No alcohol. If there's anything that catches your eye, feel free to buy it"
"Right, I need the walk anyways. I'm always cooped up in the hospital," Demon nodded. He just hoped the nonstop flirting didn't hold him up. He was much too nice to abruptly end conversations.
"PARTY!" Luffy exclaimed in joy, jumping at the thought of all the food.
"Oh right! We never got to see your ship!" Sabo exclaimed in excitement. He was gonna see an actual ship! He wondered how Rosan's ship looked? Knowing his oldest brother, there was no way it was going to be a normal ship.
"How much deer's do you think we'll need?" Maro asked Ace, who thought about it.
"A lot. We'll give one to the bandit's too so they don't bother us," he replied and the princess nodded excitedly.
"You're a lot different then most nobles," Ace pointed out, causing Maro to snort.
"Well for most of my life, I was actually homeless!" She exclaimed and his jaw dropped at the revelation. "Master found me around 2 years ago and I just became queen a few months ago because of him!"
Ace and Sabo's eyes bugged at that.
"I reacted the same way!" Maro gushed.
"Your ship isn't like anything I've ever seen before," Sabo commented through a large bite of food and Angel batted him gently on the head.
"Manners," she chastised the blonde but there was no point in trying to reprimand them really.
They were like wild animals and they barely listened to boot!
The three boys were violently stealing food from each other despite having their own hefty portion and it left Angel sweatdropping in exasperation.
Something told her these three were far too stubborn to be changed. Though, that wouldn't stop her... She needed to at least beat some manners into them.
She glanced in appreciation at Maro for not being as bad as she used to. The three boys had tried stealing from her and she almost retaliated but the Princess held onto her wits and just warded them off.
Demon smiled at the chaos going on, already finished with his portion and just watched the boys cause an absolute tear. They were even worse than Maro was when they first found her!
"I've modified it extensively," Rosan told them, effortlessly blocking the grabby hands of Luffy. "I don't think a ship like mine exists because no one has changed theirs as much as I did."
"It's pretty cool in here…" Ace admitted. It made him want a ship more than ever and he couldn't hide his anticipation for the day he became a pirate.
"We're sleeping in here tonight," Angel informed Rosan. "There's no way I'm sleeping in the same area as those damn bandits."
"Sleepover!" Luffy cheered and Ace was deep in thought.
"We've been meaning to move out of there anyways. We were gonna build a new hideout so we'll sleep here in the meantime," the freckled boy explained.
"Oh we can help! Angel and Master are good at stuff like that!" Maro beamed.
"They don't want me to use my Devil Fruit but I am still decently well at it," Rosan hummed.
"You're good at stuff like this?" Sabo asked Angel in wonder. Nothing about the girl screamed that she was good at building.
"Yep! I did a lot of the work on the ship and I got interested in it so I learned with the help of Master," Angel grinned. Demon had busied himself with medicine so she had often did his physical labor (much to his discontent) and Master was always moving about, never staying on the ship for too long until he was forced too. "I bet you didn't expect someone dressed like me to do things like that huh?"
Sabo nodded because truthfully, she was right.
The teen was dressed in an expensive, all white outfit. She had on a silk shirt that flared at the bottom and a skirt plus thigh high combo.
The female clone of Rosan was dressed in a way that would suggest the complete opposite of her interests. She even had on all white! That was so easy to get dirty!
All of Rosan's companions were really strange!
The three brothers liked them!
"Master! Luffy! Some woman and her grandpa, or very old boyfriend, are here for you!" Angel called out and Mayor Woop Slap spluttered at her casual rudeness.
"Actually, he's neither," Makino said kindly, looking at, what could only be described as, a female version of Rosan. The pretty redheaded girl eyed the two with disdain and looked Makino up and down in particular.
"What's your relation with my Master? Are you trying to seduce him?! He's too young for you, old lady!" she sneered, getting close to the shorter woman with a look that promised pain.
She was tall. Much taller than the duo standing before her.
"Old lady? I'm only 19," Makino muttered. Was it because of what she wore? Maybe she should update her wardrobe in that case...
"Have some manners for your elders, young lady," Woop Slap tried to reprimand and Angel sneered at him.
"I'll show you some fucking manners, you dirty, short, ugly old man," the teen growled. Woop Slap's eyes bugged at her choice of words and his face turned red in anger. Before he could open his mouth and cement the beating Angel was certainly going to give him, a blue blur quickly got in front of her to prevent the redhead from causing even more problems.
"Who decided that it was a good idea to let Angel greet them?!" A tired voice asked and Makino took in the sight of a kimono wearing, blue haired girl grabbing and placating the rude redhead.