"Black Pearl, a ship that came to life and sails across all seven seas with determination. The one that, when seen, brings fear and makes pirates tremble!"
"Haha, what a terrible narration!" Nami mocked as she laughed at me.
"Do better then, I dare you!" I replied.
"Oh?" She stopped laughing, then jumped to the front of the ship and, with her soft and narrative voice, she began: "See, look and tremble! Like a boogeyman on a dark night; Black Pearl is coming... Watch out! It's already here!"
"Hahaha, you two are terrible at this!" Merida laughed heartily.
"Then do it better." Nami and I challenged her.
"Sure, why not~?" Merida stood up and walked with her hands behind her back.
Her demeanor changed.
She seemed to have embodied someone else as she walked back and forth until she opened her lips and posed the following question: "Have you heard of the Ghost Ship of East Blue? No?"
"Fuck!" Nami and I already knew we had lost just from that.
Nojiko, who was sitting in a chair with her elbow on the table and her hand on her face, had a relaxed smile as she watched everything unfold.
Merida walked to the ship's mast and, upon touching it, suddenly turned around, making her fiery red curly hair sway in the wind: "But, it's real!"
Circling around the mast while holding it with one hand, she let go and walked to the edge of the ship, grabbing the railing, looking out into the distance: "However, those who saw it didn't survive to tell the tale, that's the only reason it's seen as a legend, the legend of the Black Pearl, the Ghost Ship of East Blue!"
"Okay, okay, stop, you win!" Nami was the first to surrender.
Well, I knew I was obviously better, but as a gentleman, I let her win: "Yes, Nami-nee is right. You win."
Mater's eyes appeared on the black sail: "Wow~ I didn't know I had become such a legend, sir. Tell me more about it later, alright?"
Those big eyes are downright creepy.
"Of course." Merida agreed.
--
--
[POV – Kaya]
East Blue, Syrup Village.
Opening my windows, I looked at the sky and sighed.
"How could they do something like this?" I murmured.
The news about Noah, Nami, and Nojiko caught me by surprise.
The moment I saw it, I knew it was false. There's no way such kind people who saved me and my parents could be what they said in the newspapers.
If it weren't for them, that wicked Kuro of a Hundred Plans would've killed me and my parents.
Not to mention the other people I heard they helped by defeating pirates.
How can people who go around helping others be portrayed as someone so cruel?
If now I can't even trust the government and navy that did this to them, who should I trust?
–
–
[POV – Third Person]
Kaya wasn't the only one who thought that way. Several others who were saved by Noah, Nojiko, and Nami knew how false and manipulative that information was.
Each of them didn't like pirates, but suddenly decided to act like a pirate — even worse?
They didn't believe it.
How could they believe it?
--
--
[POV – Noah]
18 days later...
The anime and manga lied to me!
Sun, sea, wind hitting my face...
Yeah, all of that is kinda cool.
But, man... Where are the bikinis?
Nami wears comfortable clothes, but doesn't show much skin, Nojiko was the same.
As for Merida? If she wore any more clothes, I'd think this 50-degree sun was fake!
Sigh, in the end, was it all just fanservice?
"Noah, are you okay?" Nojiko crouched near me, as I was in a corner of the ship drawing circles on the floor.
"Just leave me." I said, looking at her wearing a shirt that didn't show even a bit of cleavage, then looked down and went back to drawing circles on the floor: "Life is a lie. I just want to reflect on it for a bit..."
I could see in her eyes that she didn't understand me — how could she?
I'm 15 years old and I'm on a ship with three beautiful women, but...
Sigh...
This is by far the worst.
Let's say, having a living ship with eyes everywhere, even if it says it respects privacy, the feeling of being watched makes everything impossible...
Now, with each passing day, Nami, Nojiko, and Merida become even more beautiful.
It's like being hungry and going without food day after day — each day, even a simple rice ball seems like a delicacy...
Okay, I won't stay like this, I won't lose to my worldly desires!
Getting up, I climbed onto the ship's railing and jumped into the water.
"Splash!"
"He jumped again," Nami said.
"Leave him, maybe it'll help cheer him up a bit," Nojiko replied.
"Did he go to catch fish?" Merida asked.
"Yes, that's right." Nojiko confirmed without the slightest doubt.
Meanwhile, I, who heard all that, thought: Okay, I need to fish.
My eyes worked like a spotlight under the sea.
I looked around until I spotted a big fish.
--
--
'Okay, my mind has cooled down. I feel much better now. Huh, I don't know what came over me.'
I thought all of this while eating generous chunks of a Sea King.
One desire being suppressed by another.
"What is your stomach made of, huh?" Nami poked my belly.
"Elastic, most likely." I replied.
"Even so, how can you eat more than 100 kilos of meat and not gain weight?" She pulled my cheek and let go.
"Believe in yourself, Nami-nee, you can do it too!" I gave her a thumbs-up.
"W-Who would want to eat that much food?" She rolled her eyes.
"But, Nami. Haven't you noticed that since you got that Devil Fruit, you've been eating three times more than you used to?" Nojiko teased her.
"That's true, but why do I feel like you're saying that just to defend Noah?" Nami crossed her arms, pretending — most likely — to be hurt.
Smiling, Nojiko replied casually: "Nami, you're imagining things."
"Am I?" Nami showed skepticism.
I saw Merida with a bow and arrow just smile before drawing an arrow and shooting.
The arrow whistled through the air and soon struck a Sea King that was leaping toward us.
"Nice aim," I said. "But that's not enough."
"Who said I was done?" Very quickly, I saw her draw arrow after arrow, firing like a machine gun of arrows toward the Sea King.
"ROARRRrrr!"
Looking like a porcupine, the Sea King — which looked a lot like a giant eel — roared miserably before falling into the sea.
I approached with my Hook, smiling at her, I said: "You've improved."
"Humph!" She huffed, trying to seem indifferent, but couldn't hide the satisfied smile as she turned her face away.
"Oi, lad, where I come from, that's called a tsundere~"
"Mater, stay out of it!" Merida slammed her hands down while holding her bow and scolded him.
"Alright, the one who spoke is no longer here~" Mater's eyes left the front of the cabin, possibly heading to the front of the ship.
"Zoom, zoom..."
Just confirmed my suspicion when he started making car acceleration noises with his mouth.
"Nami." I turned to her suddenly, but not before casting my Hook at the Sea King.
"What is it?" She looked at me.
"That dream of yours — let's make it real." I said.
She approached, placing her hands on the ship's railing, turning to look at me: "What's this all of a sudden?"
"In this year and a half, you've already mapped all of East Blue. But, that's not enough. Your dream is to make a map of the entire world, right? Since we're at it, let's make it real."
I turned to look out at what lay beyond the sea.
"Haha, Noah's right, let's do it." Nojiko said.
"Nojiko, you too?" Nami turned to her.
"Of course." Nojiko said with the same gentle smile as always: "Now that things happened the way they did, let's go further."
"Go further. I like how that sounds." Merida laughed.
From a princess who was raised under her mother's wishes, when all she wanted was to be free — Merida wouldn't be against this.
I knew she had an adventurous spirit, after all. For that and so many other reasons, I chose to summon her.