Chapter 19
When he was a child, he always wanted to see the sun; even a glimpse of it when the clouds became thinner gave him hope. Hope that the life of that island would start changing soon. And for the better.
But that hope didn't last long before he realized the clouds only got darker and thicker. By then, he stopped dreaming. When it rained acid, nobody thought about looking up and seeing if there was any chance for the sun to show up.
No such miracle ever happened. So, when he first set sail, he really appreciated the sun, enjoying its warmth and how it brightened everything around. The world suddenly had color in it.
No longer did he live in a colorless world. Even when he knew he was dying, he found hope in himself that he would still be able to live and find everything the world has to offer; for better or worse, he started to go home once again.
Thinking about it now, Snow knew that it would take a lot for him to start hating the sun. Even though his body wasn't used to it, and it made him dizzy if he stayed under it too long, he still appreciated it. But not today, and not yesterday, or the day before that. And by tomorrow, he will grow to despise it.
Was it his cursed luck that made him get stuck in the middle of an island made out of nothing but seaweed? It wasn't like he could have avoided it either, since this was where his log pose directed them, and they had to spend the night here before it reset.
Now here he was, hacking the seaweed away from the ship with his umbrella and slowly moving forward, if one could call it that. The seaweed was just too dense for them to move in it.
It had been a week, and they couldn't even get under the water to hide from the sun and the heat since they were on the floor of seaweed that got everywhere on the ship. And it so happens that they were in one of the hottest places Snow has ever been or wanted to be.
"I am. Going. Mad." Snow uttered each word with hate between his swings.
"You're going mad? At least you're clean," Cavendish said. "I'm the one stuck in the water, cutting our way out. It's so disgraceful and demeaning that if someone saw me like this, I'd die of embarrassment."
"Shambles." Law cleared another patch with his Devil Fruit powers, but even that had limits, and he also got physically tired doing it dozens of times without rest. "Would you two shut up? My ears are starting to bleed from your rambling."
"That's why I told you we need a musician," Snow continued to complain. "At least we'd have something to distract us from green hell."
"Captain. Big bro, I am stuck again," Coribou cried out as it looked like he was about to be completely consumed by the seaweed as he tried to get the ones stuck at the bottom of their ship.
He really was going mad with how things were, as he picked Coribou with his umbrella and continued to work. The sound of waves hitting their ship could only carry him so far, and he was starting to lose his mind. The sea of seaweed was still as endless as it had been a week ago. How could they get so deep into it, so fast, but couldn't get out?
Before he knew it, he just started blindly swinging his umbrella, ripping out one patch of seaweed after another, until he started to melt under the sun. At this point, Snow thought it was as good a day to die as any other, stuck in the middle of nowhere, just like that small boat that flew through the seaweed like it was nothing.
"Wait, who's that?"
"A boat, coming our way, it seems."
"More like straight at us."
Snow watched as the boat flew on top of the seaweed, burning through it, seemingly not intending to stop anytime soon. Like a rocket homing in on them. And it wasn't like they could move out of the way, since if they could do that, they wouldn't even be here.
"Oi!" Snow yelled out, but nobody responded. "People have no manners at all."
Jumping out of his ship, Snow turned into an iron bird and flew straight at the little boat approaching them. At the last moment, he turned back into his human form and landed hard on top of the boat.
"Hello there," Snow said. The ship tipped a bit, stopping it and looking at the man sleeping with a cowboy hat covering his eyes.
"Aw," the man yawned, lifting his head, finally awake. "Howdy."
"I hope you had a nice nap."
"I did, thanks for your concern," the man smiled brightly, fixing his cowboy hat. "How's it going?"
"Pretty bad," Snow replied with an even bigger smile. "Since my crew is stuck in the middle of the sea and some idiot was just going to ram my ship."
"That indeed is pretty bad. Who's the idiot who was going to ram your ship? They should be taught a lesson."
"I wholeheartedly agree." Snow swung his umbrella at the idiot in question.
Snow only wanted to lightly smack the man in the head so he wouldn't go to sleep in the middle of the sea, but his umbrella just passed through him, hitting the bottom of his boat. Before Snow could comprehend what had just happened, he found a fist flying at his face, knocking him into the air.
"That's rude," the man said, as Snow turned into a bird midair and caught himself before he fell into the water. "Why would you hit someone for no reason?"
"Because you're an idiot," Snow replied. "The idiot who almost rammed into my ship."
"Oh, sorry about that, but why don't you just move it?"
At this point, Snow would be the idiot if he didn't know who the shirtless man before him was. But even knowing that, he couldn't help but want to smack him a good dozen times. In the end, he calmed down and landed back on his boat.
"Because we're stuck," Snow said.
"That's too bad," he replied, before both of them heard his stomach grumble. "Um, you wouldn't have a bit of food to spare for me, would you?"
"That depends."
Snow smiled, looking at how easily his boat was able to move through the seaweed. Even in his sleep, like he was flying through it. Finally, Snow got his ticket out of this mess.
…
Even though Snow always had space in his stomach for desserts and could eat tons of them, it was nothing compared to how much Ace ate. And nobody could even say anything about it, since everyone knew who Ace was.
Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, whatever that was supposed to mean. Snow remembered from the story that Ace got himself captured and, in the end, died, with Whitebeard following soon after. All the other finer details weren't something he bothered to remember.
"Blackbeard." Snow knew the name and could remember quite a bit from the picture Ace painted for him. "Well, I'd say you're quite screwed. I'd give up on pursuing him if I were you."
The table shook. Snow expected that kind of response since Blackbeard not only killed his fellow commander but also a dear friend and betrayed the Whitebeard Pirates. And yet, rather than finding Ace hitting the table with his fist, he found Ace's face in his plate.
"He's sleeping," Law commented with a twitching eyebrow.
"I could tell that from the giant bubble coming out of his nose," Snow replied, popping the bubble and waking up Ace.
"Um? Oh!" He looked confused for a second before continuing to eat his steak. "So? Have you seen that man?"
"Nah," Snow replied. "But I can tell you that a lot of shit will go down if you continue to pursue him. Are you sure it's worth it?"
Snow almost flinched when he looked at Ace's serious face. For all his quirks, Snow now felt that he wasn't a person someone like him could mess with. And Ace wasn't someone who just gave up because of a stranger's words of warning, either way, so he let it go.
"Well, I owe you one for helping us get off the island, so don't die too soon, at least not before I repay you. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth if you just got yourself killed."
"Don't worry, I won't die so easily. And you already repaid me," Ace replied, his smile returning as he patted his full stomach.
"Captain," the cook of their ship whispered in Snow's ear, "he ate more than half of our supplies."
"Don't concern yourself with it. We'll get plenty of food on the next island," Snow dismissed his crew's worries.
Snow had another thought stuck in his mind. He wanted to fight Ace and see how strong he was compared to a pirate from the New World. But he suppressed it since he couldn't even touch him right now. He would only embarrass himself if he suggested it.
"Well, that was delicious, but I probably should be going," Ace suddenly stood up. "See you, I guess."
And just like that, he jumped out of their ship to his little boat before using his firepower to sail over the water and quickly disappear over the horizon. If Snow didn't know Ace's destination, he would have just smiled and wished him good luck. But now, he could only look at him as he disappeared.
Oh well. Everyone had their own journey. It wasn't Snow's place to interfere with Ace's. He needed to worry about himself first and find a cure for his disease before his time ran out.
"Phew," Caribou finally seemed to relax after Ace left. "Captain! That was Fire Fist Ace, the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!"
Snow smacked Caribou in the face with his umbrella, ignoring the obvious thing he said. Now, he was fired up and wanted to learn Haki more than ever. And since he had a Logia user in his crew, he had the best punching bag he could ask for.
"Captain?" Caribou slowly backed away as he saw Snow's shining eyes set on him. "Hiii! Please don't hurt me!"
…
A few days later, they finally saw the next island on their way. By then, their supplies were dwindling bit by bit. But it was none of Snow's concern as he was busy beating up Caribou and Coribou, one to somehow learn how to use Haki to hurt Logia users, and the other to strengthen his body.
Both of them were good punching bags. One wouldn't get hurt at all, no matter how much Snow relieved his annoyance for not being able to use Haki yet. The other would get beaten up and ask for more.
"Still no results?" Law was also interested in Haki, but he would rather learn it more scientifically.
"Maybe I need a real battle to get the feeling of it," Snow replied. "But we probably won't find anyone in the Grand Line like that. Let's just keep our eyes open for anyone who could be of help from now on."
Maybe he should have asked Ace for help, but he didn't want to owe him more than he already did. With his fire, Ace had been able to easily free their ship from that accursed island, ending the nightmare that Snow had gotten stuck in.
Still, he didn't really want to get involved with him right now. Blackbeard and Whitebeard were out of his league. He would rather look after himself first. Though Marco the Phoenix was one of the people who might be able to help with his affliction, since he had a Devil Fruit power that could heal others.
Still, even though he didn't expect it to make much difference, since even Law couldn't do much about it, his best hope probably lay with Vegapunk or getting into Dressrosa. And since he knew that Law would go there anyway, he might as well go there first.
That meant he didn't have much time to get strong enough to beat someone like Doflamingo. His body would probably start getting weaker with time, too. Especially when his expiration date is two years will come to an end.
"What is this?" Cavendish asked, looking at the countless ships and people at the harbor of the island. "A festival?"
Festivals meant snacks. Sweet and rare snacks. Now Snow's worries completely disappeared as they docked at the harbor, and he got excited to go in and see what was going on. He had set his priorities straight.
"What is this?" As Snow took his first steps onto the island, he caught a newspaper flying toward him. "A concert at the Garden of the Blue Rose? The world's diva, Uta, will perform tomorrow at midnight. Hey, Law, have you heard of this Uta before?"
"I have no idea who that is."
"Did you change your hat?" Snow asked as he looked at the red and white hat on Law's head.
"You're imagining things."
Well, if he said so. And since he was already here, he should at least check out the concert. Maybe he would finally be able to find a musician for his crew. And if nothing else, it did sound quite fun.
A.N. Yes, I am bringing back this story. Even after more than a year since writing it, I can't get it out of my head. So I have to subject the rest of you to what I want to write. You can expect a chapter a week, like with the rest of my current stories.
As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want more 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon. com /ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.