-Recap-
After accidentally eating a Devil Fruit, Damian mysteriously disappeared...
=====In today's chapter======
????: "What... is... your... wish...?"
Damian: "-rp-san... who...? Whe- ahhhhhhh!"
Before Damian could process what the voice said or the whole situation in general, he had to worry about other things, like... not splattering himself on the ground. The first thing Damian tries to do is grab Mèi to use her as a counterweight to balance himself, but...
Damian: 'Damn it!! Mèi is gone!! Where am I?! And what the hell was that voice...!'
Noticing Mèi's absence, Damian tries to steady himself, but that only made him get closer and closer to the ground. However, just when it seemed he was about to collide with the soil... a white figure appeared, caught Damian in its arms, and landed safely on the ground.
Damian: "Tcharara~ thanks..."
'I can't believe it...!! Yama... wait! How did I get to Wano?'
As soon as Damian started speaking, he turned to the person who helped him and, as soon as he saw that person's face... he froze and stared at them.
Damian: 'Neuron activation'
??????: "Are you okay...?"
The speaker was a young woman with white hair that, at the tips, turned a sea-green tone and then blue. Her eyes were a gentle orange and, on top of her head, there was a pair of red horns with an orange base. She was tall, even though she looked quite young, and her clothes were similar to those of mikos (Shinto shrine maidens), with a large purple and white nio-dasuke sash around her waist that extended behind her back. To complete the look, the young woman wore a kanabo strapped to her back. And on her wrists, she had two broken shackles with chains.
Realizing he was staring like an idiot, Damian adjusted his posture, took a deep breath, and...
Damian: "Sorry! My name is Damian and, by the looks of it, we're alike, aren't we?"
'Calm down, Dami... we already knew we'd meet her at some point... breathe and don't screw everything up...'
Saying this, Damian pointed to his pair of white horns with a gray base. The young woman then approached him with curiosity, as if she were a dog seeing a new friend, but quickly that expression became conflicted.
??????: "Damian... your name is different from the people here... but you have horns, like my father's subordinates... what a mess! Hey, Damian! Be honest with me, okay?"
Damian: "Of course."
'She's actually less naive than I imagined... interesting... too bad I'll have to lie to her.'
??????: "Do you work for my father?"
Damian: "I'd like to answer that, but first I'll have to ask who your father is?"
'Father? Wasn't it supposed to be mother? What did D.E do? ... ... Well, it doesn't matter. Kaido is still the Yonko.'
??????: "You... don't know?"
Damian: "Well... if you haven't seen, I kind of appeared here out of nowhere... I kind of, until now, don't know where I am."
??????: "Seriously?"
Damian: "Yeah! One moment I was eating some fruits with my mentor, traveling to see a friend, and the next I'm falling and being saved by you... by the way, thanks again. I really didn't want to ruin these clothes with the fall."
Upon hearing the word "travel," the young woman's eyes seemed to have gained an even greater sparkle than before and, as soon as Damian stopped speaking, she jumped on him with an animation similar to a dog wanting to go for a walk.
??????: "Hey! Where were you going?! Kuri? Yo? Or another region of Wano Country?"
Damian: "Kuri...? Yo...? Wa... no...! WAIT?! I'M IN WANO?!"
'I already knew... but confirmation is always good...'
The young woman, hearing Damian's astonishment, also became confused. After all, how could he not be from Wano if he was there?
??????: "Why are you surprised?"
Damian: "Because I'm not from Wano, miss!"
The sparkle in the young woman's eyes, upon hearing these words, became so dazzling that Damian could barely look in her direction.
??????: "You're not from Wano?!?!?! Please tell me everything about the outside world!!!!"
Damian: "Hold on! That was a lot to process... all that's left is for you to tell me I'm in Onigashima..."
??????: "But you are in Onigashima!"
Damian: "... ... ... What?"
??????: "You are in Onigashima."
Damian: "Wait... are you telling me I'm on Yonko Kaido's residential island?"
??????: "So you know my father?!"
Damian: "But... isn't Kaido... like... a woman? And you're her daughter?"
'I swear I had asked D.E to do this...'
??????: "Well... yes, my father is a woman, but because of an Okama, she was a man for a while... but that's not important! Tell me about the outside world!"
Damian: "Sure... but first... can you tell me your name? Calling you 'miss' will get awkward after a while..."
'I guess D.E had to pull some strings to make Yamato be born and Kaido become a woman at the same time...'
Realizing she hadn't said her name yet, the young woman then stepped back a little and turned towards Damian with a wide, bright smile and an even brighter aura behind her.
Oden: "My name is Oden!"
Damian: "Oden, huh? Interesting name!"
'Is she at the level of not even wanting to accept her own name? This is worse than I remember from the manga...'
Oden: "Thanks, Damian! Now tell me about the outside world!"
Damian: "Of course! What do you want to hear first?"
Then, Damian began to talk about the islands he visited and others he saw in the anime. Damian also spoke about the creatures on these islands, such as the dinosaurs of Lily Garden, animals from O-Kan island, and besides all that, Damian also spoke a little about the people and governments of these islands, which Oden wasn't very interested in, but still listened with all the attention in the world.
Damian: "... Well, I guess that's all that comes to mind right now!"
As soon as Damian finished speaking, Oden threw herself back... only to sit up moments later with a satisfied smile on her face.
Oden: "Huhahaha~ what incredible places you've seen, Damian!!"
Damian: "Tcharara~ you think so?"
'Damn... she's cute.'
Oden: "But of course! This is the first time I've heard about other islands outside of Oden's diary!"
Damian: "Huh? But aren't you Oden?"
Realizing what she said, "Oden" blushed with immense embarrassment.
Yamato: "Well... actually... my name isn't Oden... my name, in fact, is Yamato..."
Damian: "And why don't you use your name? It's a pretty nice name, so why not use it?"
Yamato: "Because I want to be him! I want to be Oden!"
Damian: "Tcharara~ but why?"
Yamato: "Because he was incredible! He..."
Then, Yamato began to narrate Oden's entire story. She first began to narrate with an animated voice about Oden's departure from Wano with Whitebeard and, then, when he joined Roger, and about the arrival at Laugh Tale. But after narrating that part, Yamato's voice became heavy and, to some extent, sad as she narrated about the things Shogun Orochi and Kaido did against Oden and, when she described the death of this legendary man... tears streamed from her eyes.
Yamato: "And that's why I want to be Oden!"
Before saying anything, Damian took a piece of his clothing and handed it to Yamato to dry her tears, which she did quickly and then looked back at Damian.
Damian: "This Oden fellow was indeed inspiring, but I still don't understand... why be him instead of being like him?"
Yamato's expression became confused by Damian's question.
Yamato: "Huh?! Aren't they the same thing?"
Damian: "Obviously not, Yamato. One, in my opinion, is a complete disrespect to someone's legend and life. And the other is a way to honor that person's wishes, dreams, and goals."
Yamato: "I... don't... understand..."
Damian: "Sigh So, let me ask you something... you know Oden better than I do... so tell me something, do you think he would like to know that you are trying to replace him? Instead of being truly free? Do you think he would like to know that he is a chain on someone else's freedom?"
Upon hearing Damian's words, Yamato became thoughtful, apprehensive, and one could even say depressed... she stared at Damian's face for a while before...
Yamato: "... I had never thought of that... I just wanted to be like him... I... I... I messed up, didn't I? ... Did I disrespect him? ... Did I... disrespect Oden...?"
Seeing the negative expression Yamato was making, Damian grabbed her shoulders and looked deep into Yamato's eyes and, with a silver aura emanating from him, Damian headbutted her, causing Yamato to fall backward onto the ground.
Yamato: "Ow! Why th-"
Damian: "Listen to me!! I've only known you for a short time, but even I know you didn't mean to disrespect Oden! You just got things confused! So, repeat after me!"
Even feeling the pain of the headbutt, Yamato heard every word and, as soon as Damian asked her to repeat after him, Yamato, even confused by the request, stood up and began to repeat Damian's words.
Damian: "FROM THIS DAY FORWARD!"
Yamato: "From... this... day... forward...?"
Damian: "I WILL NO LONGER USE ODEN AS A MASK!"
Yamato: "I will no longer use Oden as a mask."
Damian: "BUT RATHER...!"
Yamato: "But rather!"
Damian: "AS A BEACON THAT WILL GUIDE ME TO FREEDOM!!"
Yamato: "AS A BEACON THAT WILL GUIDE ME TO FREEDOM!"
As their voices grew louder and louder, a glow began to emanate from them and, throughout the conversation, this glow merged into one another, creating a blend of silver and amethyst colors. And, furthermore, with the last words they spoke, a strange tremor was emitted by them.
Damian: "Now tell me, Yamato! Who are you?!"
Yamato: "I am not Oden... I am one of the many people who were inspired by him... I am... YAMATO!"
As soon as Yamato let out that last shout, black lightning bolts shot out from her body, causing minor damage to the ground and, after a few seconds, the lightning stopped emanating from Yamato, who turned towards Damian with an expression of realization.
To Be Continued