In the end, I decided to change the word count from 5,000-4,000 words to 4,000-3,000 words, mainly so there wouldn't be so much time between chapters, since I'm somewhat behind academically and thinking about writing these chapters takes me quite a while.
I hope no one minds this change, and without further ado, continue with the fic.
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It's been two days since I woke up and nine days since my fight with Whitebeard. Before continuing, let's recap what happened since I was turned into mush.
Once I was defeated by Whitebeard, he went in search of Marco to see my condition, and the others went to find my companions. Once they found us, we were taken to the Moby Dick, whether we wanted to or not, as the island was destroying itself. They also searched for Hun along with the surviving prisoners. They ended up joining one of Whitebeard's fleets.
I was back to normal; Marco quickly moved me to intensive care. Thanks to Sulli's help, they were able to save me without any serious long-term injuries. I most likely won't be able to fight at my best for six months, but it's better than dying.
And for those seven days, I was in a coma, not reacting much to what was happening. The others were either helping on the ship or training, since they didn't have much else to do; they had to wait for me to wake up and be able to move before leaving the Moby Dick.
Now, going back to when I woke up, I had to stay in bed for at least five more days; after that, I'll be able to stand without too many complications. My injuries were quite serious; if I had to name a few, they would be both arms broken, extreme muscle strain, damage to my middle ear, broken ribs, my stomach punctured by ribs, a damaged lung, a damaged liver, and a destroyed knee, among other things. The reason I'm able to recover from all of this, you could say, is because of the nature of the bodies in One Piece and the magical strengthening pills that appear in those Korean mangas about ancient warriors and immortal cultivators.
Thank you very much. Kim Yon-kun, or whatever your name is.
(Note: I don't know how to spell it, but I don't plan on correcting it since it's funny.)
During this time, I was treated very disgracefully, and any dignity I had was long gone. One of the things I had to do was drink liquids; I have to do this for at least two weeks because of the wound in my stomach. The only good thing was that I didn't have to go to the bathroom to defecate, but defecating was a different matter.
During this time, I haven't been alone in my room at any time, and there's zero privacy. They're here so I can comply with the two doctors' orders. They know that if they leave me alone, I'm likely to stop and do something I shouldn't, and since I'm in a rather precarious condition, anyone can overpower me and prevent me from stopping. Because if I force myself, the wounds all over my body won't feel much different than if they were being ripped off my body piece by piece.
Today, after two days of waking up, they can finally remove some of the bandages, including the one on my mouth, which wouldn't allow me to communicate. Right now, all my companions and a few crew members from the Moby Dick were there to check on my condition, out of pure curiosity.
Marco was removing the bandages from my head. It feels so good when those things stop squeezing you; it's like there's freedom in that area, in this case, my head.
Marco: "And that would be the last one, so how do you feel?"
Dante: "As if Whitebeard had punched me with his fist at maximum force, with full Haki using his Devil Fruit." I don't know how he wanted me to feel; I didn't feel good.
Everyone looks at me with a look of amusement and irony.
Trini: "I hope this teaches you a lesson not to act recklessly, asshole." She said, turning and leaving. Sulli followed her, letting the simp go.
Arthur: "Don't mind him, Dante; he's just worried sick about you."
Isis: "And also angry that you took all this on yourself and didn't ask us for help."
Dante: "This was my problem, so I had to solve it myself. I knew how this would end, and I didn't want it to end the same or worse than when we fought Zephyr."
Arthur: "That doesn't take away from the fact that we're still very weak compared to monsters like Whitebeard."
Pirate 1: "Ha, they'll never be able to defeat Father." The others began to agree.
Dante: "At least not now," I tell myself.
Marco: "Well, your recovery is going well right now; in two more days you'll be able to get out of bed and leave here. In the meantime, don't make such a fuss," he said with a smile as the others also left, leaving only Isis, Arthur, and me.
Arthur: "Hey, Dante, did you ever think you'd beat Whitebeard?"
Dante: "It never really occurred to me that I'd beat him." I never saw myself capable of defeating Whitebeard, and perhaps that's the problem, why I couldn't continue and fight better.
The pressure of being like Whitebeard shook my will; only at the very end did I manage to gather my mind to do something, but it was too late, with all the wounds and pain in my body.
This will serve as a lesson for me later on, for the next enemy we face.
And speaking of which, if this happened to me, I can't imagine what could have happened to the others; that just shows we're still a long way from being at the top of this world's power.
*2 days later*
Dante: "My legs are hurting."
Isis: "Are you sure you want to stand up right now? Even though Marco said you could, that doesn't mean it's necessary."
Dante: "I don't mind. You don't know how bored I get lying in bed doing nothing. Sulli, could you please pass me the cane?"
Sulli: "Sure, here you go." She handed me a wooden cane from the room.
My legs not only still hurt a little, but they also feel a little weak from not using them for days.
Thatch: "If you're going to get up and start moving, then go to Father. I was hoping you could walk so you'd go there."
Dante: "I think I'm going to sleep."
Trini: "Don't be a chicken; the old man isn't that bad."
I know Whitebeard isn't a bad guy, but it's hard to go back to the guy who nearly left you paraplegic with a single punch to the face.
After talking for a while with Trini, Sulli, Isis, Thatch, Juzo, Namur, and Izuo, I went to see Whitebeard to see what he had to say.
The others have become friends with members of Whitebeard's crew; for example, right now Arthur is training with Vista in spear use.
We're all friends, all in quotation marks. You could say we're doing well, after everything that happened.
As I walked to Whitebeard, I realized how big the Moby Dick was. Trini was helping me get there faster since I couldn't move like a normal person. I thought of a grandmother on crutches; that's how I got around.
We finally arrived where Whitebeard was.
Marco: "We arrived with Dante Sr."
Whitebeard: "Okay, leave him there; you can go."
When I sat down, in all the pain in the world, I saw he was holding a manuscript; it was barely noticeable in his hand compared to its size, but there it was. It was the manuscript of the book he was writing. I thought I'd lost it forever on the island during the fight, but it turns out he had it.
Whitebeard: "The concept of this book is very interesting, but it would be better enjoyed if it were complete."
Dante: "There's a reason I'm still writing it."
If I weren't so hurt, I would have tried to take the manuscript away from him.
Whitebeard: "Brat, don't overestimate yourself."
Dante: "What do you mean?"
Whitebeard: "Even if you were whole, you still wouldn't be able to take them out of my hand, and you'd want to fight me alone."
Dante: "I just wanted to take the punishment alone."
Whitebeard: "That's very noble of you, but you need to learn not to do things alone. If the five of you had fought me, maybe you wouldn't have ended up so bad."
Dante: "Maybe." I was rambling. I don't know if what he's saying is true, but it's a possibility, and it might not have turned out that way. Only Arthur knows how to use Haki, so the others would have ended up very badly.
Whitebeard: "I still appreciate you fighting alone. It reminded me a bit of my youth, when I used to fight against Roger or Rocks. They were good memories, except the power scale between us wasn't that unbalanced, comparing your level with mine, gurarararaa." He started laughing at how weak I am compared to him.
Dante: "I can go from here now."
Whitebeard: "No, there's still something I want to talk to you about." I can only listen. "A while back, during the God Valley incident, I faced several people, including three holy knights, one of whom was a guy who looks a bit like you."
I stood still, barely breathing, as I knew where this was going.
Whitebeard: "Later, when all that was over and I had formed my own pirate crew, one of those holy knights would arrive, and he would want to impose himself on me, saying that if that Figarland was able to leave me a scar, then he would be able to kill me right then and there."
I remember something like this, which was shortly after Alex was born: Ares went to the New World to catch a specific pirate and ended up almost dead.
Whitebeard: "He arrived before me with great confidence. Not only did he not kill me, but he escaped without being able to do everything he said he would do, leaving him as a charlatan." I don't know how much power he had and the difference in power between him and me at the time, but if I can beat Whitebeard, then I can beat Ares. "Now, I don't know what kind of relationship he has with that guy, but if I suspect you're from that place, I ask you, how bad is that place?"
During my free time with Whitebeard, we talked about various things; among them, what Mary Goise was like during Roger's lifetime and how he managed to assemble his pirate crew. I tried to get information out of him about the pirates, but he said he wasn't ready to know everything that was going on back then. Pure nonsense from my point of view; there must have been some embarrassing incident.
In the end, Whitebeard threw a farewell party for us, since I could stand up and talk. I had to go, or, in other words, we'd be kicked off the ship. I never wanted to be here or in this situation.
The party was very entertaining; I didn't have much communication with the pirate crew, so I spent most of my time eating. They didn't let me drink beer, saying that sick people couldn't get drunk. You could say that, if it weren't for the food, which was very good, it would have been the worst party I've ever been to. That's just me, since everyone else had a great time.
The next day, they gave us a boat that could fit all five of us, plus Hun. They left us in the middle of the sea, with no directions.
Arthur: "This situation is horrible."
Trini: "It reminds me of how we met," she said, looking at me.
Dante: "I just hope it doesn't take us long to find civilization."
Isis: "Or that a storm comes." I looked at her and grabbed her shoulders, since what she said was a bad sign.
Dante: "Do you know what you did?"
Isis: "What did I do?" she said, terrified by my behavior.
Dante: "Mufasa."
Isis: "Mufasa?"
Mufasa
*A few minutes later*
A huge storm was battering the boat we were on. Trini and Arthur were trying to bail out the water that was coming into the boat; since it was rain, it wasn't seawater, so they could touch it. Isis, Sulli, and I were trying to stabilize the boat so it wouldn't capsize. And Hun was there screaming nonstop.
Hun: [Danger! Danger! Danger!]
Dante: "I'm regretting giving Hun that fruit; I should have given him something to clear storms or something."
Isis: "I already said sorry," she said, crying, both for causing this and out of fear of falling into the sea.
Trini: "This water is endless."
Arthur: "The sea is endless."
Trini: "That's not what I meant, you know?"
Sulli: "I think bad news is coming."
I looked where Sulli was referring to. A 20-meter-long wave magically appeared.
Dante: "Shit, the boat's going to swallow me up," I said, taking Hun in one of my hands.
Hun: [Our time has come.]
We all started screaming as the wave swallowed and sank the boat we were on.
*Transition Moment*
After swimming for about three hours in the sea, I reached dry land. I had Hun on my right hand and Isis on my left. If it weren't for this, I would have reached land much sooner, as I had to keep them from drowning, as they were both Devil Fruit users.
In front of me was Trini; with her swimming skills, she was able to carry Arthur without any problems, but halfway through, she had to bring Sulli along, as she grew tired and almost drowned.
It's worth noting that, despite the longer swim, we were still in the storm.
I lay down on the sand to rest; Isis and Hun were still breathing, so they were fine. Trini was performing first aid on Sulli, as she swallowed a lot of seawater during the journey, and they needed to get it out of her lungs. Arthur was there on the ground, grabbing the dirt and throwing it at himself.
Arthur: "I'll never be mean to you again, dry land."
I decided to ignore everyone and sleep in the sun. My whole body ached from swimming while still injured, and honestly, I couldn't move anymore.
In the middle of the journey, my wounds opened up, and that prompted some predators to try to eat me; it was one of the most horrible experiences of my life.
Dante: "YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE YOU, WHITEBEARD!!"
*After a few embarrassing moments*
Trini: "So, what do we do now, those of us with nothing? If we're lucky, we have our weapons; that money, all wet and torn, is no good anymore."
Sulli: "The only thing we can do is go to whatever town there is on the island and get some money."
Arthur: "If there is a town, it might be on a deserted island."
Isis: "Mufasa," she said, lying face down in the sand; what she said was barely audible.
Trini: "I sense something alive further south of here; I just hope it's not a spider population."
Arthur: "We can only find out by going there."
We all went there; they carried me like a sack of potatoes since I couldn't move from the pain.
The good thing is that, if it was a town, it was pretty normal, even having a marine base, so it was a safe place. Using the little money we still had, we were able to find a place to stay for a few days.
Arthur: "So, how do we get money?"
Sulli: "I imagine someone will have to figure out where we can work to earn money, since there shouldn't be any thugs or thieves in town for us to intervene."
Trini: "So who's going to look for a job then?"
Silence.
Dante: "And if we see him tomorrow, it's already getting late, and I don't think anyone will be in any condition to get one." Everyone agreed with me.
Isis: "What about food? I'm hungry."
Silence.
*The next day*
Dante: "When can I take off the bandages?"
Sulli: "You'll be able to take off most of the bandages in about two months."
Right now, they were changing some of the bandages, which were still damp from what happened yesterday. Trini was doing something similar, but with her weapons, which still had some water in them, so she was cleaning them.
Currently, Arthur and Isis have gone to look for possible jobs so we could work here.
Dante: "One thing we came up with was that we could do favors in exchange for money."
Trini: "I don't think it'll work, and speaking of money, when Morgans gives you the money from your book sales, from what I understand, he gives you a percentage of what he earns."
Dante: "I have no idea. The bird he uses as a courier is very strange, since sometimes it doesn't arrive until three months after it's sent."
At that moment, the others arrived.
Arthur: "Good news, everyone, we found a place where we can work for a decent salary."
Isis: "It's a coffee shop that's opening soon; the owner is a grandmother who let us work for her until we were financially well-off."
Arthur: "The idea is to do it right so that when we leave here, she can find good employees to replace us."
Dante: "And how did they manage to do that?"
At that moment, Trini snapped her fingers to get attention.
Trini: "I have an idea, something that can't fail, something that will catch everyone's attention and put us on the map of the most famous coffee shop in the world."
*A few days later*
Dante: "Welcome, dear customer. I have some tables available for three people at table 4; follow me."
The business we were running has been booming; income has been good and rising. All thanks to Trini's idea. Even people from other towns on the island have come here to see us.
The only thing I wish was NOT TO BE IN A MAID'S DRESS.
I didn't understand why I was here, dressed as a maid, serving customers. My cooking skills are far better than the four of them combined, but here I am, embarrassing myself again.
The only excuse they gave me was my fame; the fact that the hero of Paradise is working in a cafe dressed as a maid draws a lot of attention, something Trini knew very well and got right.
Most of them came to see Arthur, Isis, and me dressed as maids. Sulli works at the front desk to collect the money and manage everything, and Trini and the owner's grandson work as cooks.
Thanks to Trini's idea, which she got from me, from something I'd said once, which she remembered perfectly, the coffee shop became a maid cafe. Something new for this world, so it draws a lot of attention.
Something that really pisses me off is the newspaper thing. He had contacted me before leaving Whitebeard's ship about what had happened. The idea was that I would appear on the front page about my fight against the strongest man in the world; instead, I appear dressed as a maid serving coffee, with the news of my fight with Whitebeard taking a backseat.
YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE YOU, MORGANS!!
Arthur: "Hey, Dante, how long do we have to do this?"
Dante: "Until I have enough to last the six of us for a whole month." This depressed him quite a bit, since it means we'll be working like this for at least a month.
*Elsewhere in town*
???: "If it's them, the chief will like to know we know where those attempted heroes are." Said a woman's voice, looking at the coffee maid through binoculars.
???: "Don't rush things; we still need Hogan to arrive." Said a man with a giant hammer.
???: "Are you still busy at North Blue?"
???: "No, he's already finished and is coming here. Let's just rest. He might not have much time to rest again, and if he leaves here, we just have to follow him. He has my Vive card to follow us."
???: "Okay, do you want some coffee?"
???: "I prefer hot chocolate."