Third-person POV.
In an isolated field, a 5-year-old girl with dark black hair and red eyes could be seen kicking a tree, which had padding to prevent injury to her leg. Only the padding was so worn that it was almost useless.
The girl was hitting it with such concentration that she didn't notice someone watching her from a distance.
???: "If you keep going like this, not only will you not make any progress, but you'll break your leg." A man's voice was heard.
The moment the girl heard him, she turned around and got into a fighting stance.
???: "Who's there?" she said in her little girl's voice.
At that moment, she saw an adult walking toward the girl.
???: "You lack technique when you hit; without a counter, you barely have strength or speed."
He was a tall man, about 1.95 meters tall, blond, with red eyes, and a somewhat arrogant smile.
The girl's eyes widened in surprise.
???: "You are..."
???: "Yes, it's me," the man said. An awkward silence followed.
...
Boa Hancock has been a very busy woman. Since she was promoted to the position of empress by the most capable, strongest, and most beautiful woman, perhaps because of her lineage, she has been busy with meetings, organizing the country, and building her authority as both empress and captain of the Kuja pirates.
But she didn't feel safe. She wanted all these titles, but the moment of regret took her by surprise, so she wasn't mentally prepared.
Right now, she was on her way to her new home, the place where the empress resided; she would have to bring her sisters to live with her, but she just hasn't had the time.
Once he arrived, he showered carefully so the water wouldn't affect his Devil Fruit, washed, and dried himself.
He walked to his bedroom wearing only a towel. He was completely relaxed; he just wanted to dress in something simple and take a nap, which he felt he urgently needed.
But the moment he opened the door to his room, he found something he hadn't thought to see. On the bed—his bed—was a blond man in his 20s or 30s, sleeping in only a pair of pants, holding a black-haired, 5-year-old girl in his arms.
The scene seemed a little surreal to him, and even more so when he met the two people in his bed.
Hancock: "What the hell are you doing in my room sleeping in my bed? And above all, what are you doing here on Amazon Lily, Dante?"
Exactly, the two people sleeping in the Empress's bed were none other than Dante and his daughter Luna.
Dante: "What an annoying sound! I didn't know they had an alarm clock in the Empress's room, babe."
Luna: "There isn't one, Father."
The two of them started talking as if Hancock weren't there, making her angrier than she already was.
Unlike the original Boa Hancock, this one wasn't as arrogant, spoiled, and cruel, as she didn't go through the traumas that the latter had. But that doesn't mean she hasn't picked up certain habits from other sources.
In a single leap, using Haki in her legs, she attacked Dante with a spinning kick. And just as I was about to hit Dante, he saw me at high speed; he was holding a Luna. In the end, Hancock only destroyed his own bed, something that made a vein pop out in his head.
Dante: "But it's the brat. Long time no see," he said, looking at Hancock. "I heard you're an empress and a pirate captain; I hope you don't get too carried away with all that, or else your older brother will have to punish you," she said with a somewhat arrogant smile.
Dante did this just to annoy and anger Hancock, which he succeeded in doing without a problem.
Hancock: "I'm not interested in your big brother nonsense; now tell me why I was sleeping in this empress's bed," she said, pointing at herself.
Dante: "I remember sleeping in this bed several times before, so I didn't know it was yours."
Luna: "I slept here before your older sister too." She said, still clutching Dante's hands like a sack of potatoes.
With a cold gaze, she spread her hands and made a heart shape.
Hancock: "You have entered this Empress's most intimate place, so you deserve punishment, and I know you will forgive me for this, since I am beautiful, just like mellow." She said, flashing a lightning bolt at the two of them.
After a few seconds, nothing happened. Dante and Luna looked at each other, then looked at Hancock, who was already red-faced, only to start laughing.
Dante: "Guajajajajaja."
Luna: "Haha haha hahaha."
Seeing the two of them mocking her, Hancock lowered her hands as if she had no sight, looked at the ground, and became depressed.
...
Dante's POV.
I saw Hancock walking, already dressed, with her pet snake, Salome, wrapped around her body. She came carrying a tray of fruit to sit on the table where I was resting.
Dante: "You look good at acting like an arrogant empress; it's as if you were born to do it."
Hancock: "Shut up. If it weren't for Luna, I would have turned you to stone and placed you at the entrance to the island as a warning to invaders."
Dante: "You still have a long way to go before you can defeat me, brat."
She was about to say something, but she remained silent, just sighed, and began peeling an orange. The silence went from irritating to more comfortable. Luna was on top of me, sleeping, stroking her hair.
Dante: "How bad was it?" I said directly.
Hancock: "Horrible. Everything was horrendous. It all started because we attacked a ship important to the world government." "There were two important Devil Fruits; I could only identify one, the Inu Inu No Mi: Cerberus Pattern. We couldn't identify the other."
Dante: "From what I heard, Akainu went there to stop them."
Hancock: "I wish it had been just him; there were also those from CP, CP1, CP2, all the way to CP0." "All thanks to the fact that a pirate had already stolen a very important Devil Fruit not long ago; if I'm not mistaken, I think it was the redhead."
Dante: "The pirate intern Roger, I've heard several things about him, one being that he's already surpassed 1,000,000,000 belly counts, being a major influence in Paradise. Morgans already has him as the new fourth emperor of the sea when he arrives in the new world, with all those who follow him; that bird isn't that far from reality."
Hancock: "All that doesn't interest me; I just need to know how to protect this kingdom and make the Kuja pirates more stable."
Dante: "Well, I've been in contact with a guy who will soon be an admiral." "He told me that with Shanks' presence, the sea is no longer sufficient, so the government wants to recruit pirates to join their gang to achieve balance." "And although I'm not a pirate, they offered me the chance to join these factions."
Hancock: "And what did you say?"
Dante: "I turned it down. I'm not interested in that kind of thing, but it would suit you like a glove."
Hancock: "I don't know; I don't trust the government."
???: "You should accept. It'll give you time to get used to it and stabilize everything Tritoma left behind."
Hancock: "Who's here?" He said authoritatively.
At that moment, an old woman walked in with a cane, walking towards where we were.
Dante: "Well, we have another guest, and who is she?"
???: "You don't speak to me with such familiarity, knowing that someone like you shouldn't be on this island." He looked familiar; I didn't answer, as I tried to remember who he was.
Hancock: "So you came, you old hag. I thought you'd spend the rest of your life in a cave."
???: "You're still young, only 19, a child. You need experience. I had hoped Tritoma would last longer, but there's nothing I can do about it now." "And just so you know, my name is Glorisa, former Empress of Amazon Lily."
Dante: "Wow, and when was that, back in the age of the dinosaurs?"
Gloriosa: "So you seek the path of pain," she said, trying to hit me with her cane. I could only dodge with Luna in my arms, and, incredibly, all the movement didn't wake her.
...
Dante's POV.
I saw Hancock walking, already dressed, with her pet snake, Salome, wrapped around her body. She came carrying a tray of fruit to sit on the table where I was resting.
Dante: "You look good at acting like an arrogant empress; it's as if you were born to do it."
Hancock: "Shut up. If it weren't for Luna, I would have turned you to stone and placed you at the entrance to the island as a warning to invaders."
Dante: "You still have a long way to go before you can defeat me, brat."
She was about to say something, but she remained silent, just sighed, and began peeling an orange. The silence went from irritating to more comfortable. Luna was on top of me, sleeping, stroking her hair.
Dante: "How bad was it?" I said directly.
Hancock: "Horrible. Everything was horrendous. It all started because we attacked a ship important to the world government." "There were two important Devil Fruits; I could only identify one, the Inu Inu No Mi: Cerberus Pattern. We couldn't identify the other."
Dante: "From what I heard, Akainu went there to stop them."
Hancock: "I wish it had been just him; there were also those from CP, CP1, CP2, all the way to CP0." "All thanks to the fact that a pirate had already stolen a very important Devil Fruit not long ago; if I'm not mistaken, I think it was the redhead."
Dante: "The pirate intern Roger, I've heard several things about him, one being that he's already surpassed 1,000,000,000 belly counts, being a major influence in Paradise. Morgans already has him as the new fourth emperor of the sea when he arrives in the new world, with all those who follow him; that bird isn't that far from reality."
Hancock: "All that doesn't interest me; I just need to know how to protect this kingdom and make the Kuja pirates more stable."
Dante: "Well, I've been in contact with a guy who will soon be an admiral." "He told me that with Shanks' presence, the sea is no longer sufficient, so the government wants to recruit pirates to join their gang to achieve balance." "And although I'm not a pirate, they offered me the chance to join these factions."
Hancock: "And what did you say?"
Dante: "I turned it down. I'm not interested in that stuff, but it would suit you like a glove."
Hancock: "I don't know. I don't trust the government."
???: "You should accept. It'll give you time to get used to it and stabilize everything Tritoma left behind."
Hancock: "Who's here?" he said with authority.
At that moment, an old woman entered with a cane, walking to where we were.
Dante: "Well, we have another guest, and who is it?"
???: "You don't speak to me with such familiarity, knowing that someone like you shouldn't be on this island." He looked familiar; I didn't answer, as I tried to remember who he was.
Hancock: "So you came, you old hag. I thought you'd spend the rest of your life in a cave."
???: "You're still young, only 19, a child; you need experience. I was hoping Tritoma would last longer, but there's nothing I can do about it now." "And just so you know, my name is Glorisa, former Empress of the Amazon Lily."
Dante: "Wow, and when was that, back in the age of the dinosaurs?"
Gloriosa: "So you seek the path of pain," she said, trying to hit me with her cane. I could only dodge with Luna in my arms, and incredibly, all the movement didn't wake her.
...
Shortly after, she returned to where the others were, hiding in a corner of the island. They gave me permission to take Luna away from the island for a few days.
Dante: "And why are you three coming with me?" I said, holding Luna on my shoulders.
Hancock: "I'll have to discuss that with you about being a shichibukai."
Sandersonia: "I'm here to train a little."
Marigold: "I'm here to see my friend Isis."
I just gave a small sigh.
Luna: "Come on, Daddy Horse, to infinity and beyond," she said, kicking my sword with her small feet.
After that, we went to one of the islands next to Amazon Lily Island. There we "rested" all day.
For a week, we were on the island doing all sorts of things. I was with Hancock training Luna. The women were doing women's things, while Arthur and Sulli were left out to make a cabin, just the two of them, since if they participated in the activity, they'd finish sooner, and they did this more to pass the time than anything.
In the end, he talked to Aokiji about getting Hancock on the list of candidates to become a shichibukai; the only problem was that, since she was just a captain, she didn't have much prestige at sea yet, but in a few months, that would take care of itself.
But, like all good things, it must end.
I saw Luna cry at my departure, enough to break my heart, but I couldn't be with her. She was an Amazon, and I was a vagabond, literally.
Dante: "Trini, give it to me; you don't need it anymore," I said, signaling with my fingers.
She just looked at me with disdain and threw Nemesis at me.
With the weapon in my hands, I whistled loudly at Luna, and the moment she looked at me, I threw the weapon to her.
Dante: "It's a parting gift, so when we meet next time, I can watch you fight with it, using it like a great Amazon."
She looked at me happily, lifting Nemesis off the ground and waving goodbye. She had already looked at the weapon with interest, which is why I'm giving it to her now.
Arthur: "What kind of favoritism is this?" "You give one an anti-Devil Fruit weapon and the other nothing." He said reprimandingly.
Dante: "I gave the other a Devil Fruit; I gave it to Garp the last time I saw him; I just hope he'll get it."
Isis: "He's not too young for a Devil Fruit."
Dante: "You'd be surprised how old some people get with one of these."
...
It's been 13 years since I began the journey; I'm currently 27, and I already feel old. Well, if we include the years from my past life, I'd be older, but let's just assume that never happened.
Several things have happened over the past few days. Last year, Fisher Tiger died, and I wasn't invited to the funeral. I wasn't invited to another funeral; it was Otohime's. And that wasn't too long ago. The Shichibukai system is already being implemented, with only Doflamingo, Crocodile, and Mihawk remaining. They're currently in the recruitment process, but that didn't stop Doflamingo from taking over Dressrosa.
Another important thing is that Borsalino and Aokiji are almost ready to become admirals. Aokiji is taking Tsuru's place, and Borsalino is the remaining one. I don't know why it took them so long, but it's done. All three admirals have Logia-type Fruits.
(Note: It's around the same time Arlong was released and had the run-in with Borsalino, while Borsalino was still a vice admiral.)
That's been the most important thing; I don't take the rest into account; I just pick up the newspaper to see the new or updated bounties on the pirates.
That's how I do the killing. This one, no, this one, this one, no, this one, this one. That way, we're left with the bounties on the pirates we're interested in hunting, mostly for resources and money.
Currently, we're not short on money, but something tells me we'll need more.
Trini: "It seems the money isn't enough. With 20,000,000 belly, what more do you want, or are you trying to scam us?" she said to an information dealer.
We're currently in Paradise, looking for information on a certain pirate.
Dealer: "Understand that's very little considering the information you're looking for on that certain pirate."
Trini: "Are you going to give us his exact current location?" The merchant shook his head fearfully. "Then there's no point in asking for more for so little."
Merchant: "It's for my safety."
Trini: "Security, what the hell? It's all covered up; I can barely see your face; how are we supposed to know who you are? you're such a rat."
Then the others and I were entertained watching Trini intimidate the con man. What we're doing may be a bit sudden and pointless, but I feel like it's something we should stop.
* Flashback *
Dante: "It was ten o'clock at night; I was piloting my ship, my taxi was a '68 Volkswagen; it was one of those bad days."
Sulli: "Would you shut up? You've been singing like someone's drowning for three hours straight."
Dante: "But we'll need some background music; no one's been talking in a while." "Trini's fishing, Arthur's sleeping, Isis is knitting, and you're reading those books." "No one's talking to me to relieve my boredom while I'm driving."
Arthur: "Sorry, but your singing was so angelic it was giving me a stroke."
Dante: "Wow, you're so funny; I'm going to call the clown school to hire you as an instructor."
Arthur: "I'm going to call a chimney sweep to clean your throat and see if you can start singing properly."
Dante: "What if—"
Trini: "Can you stop arguing? It's keeping me from concentrating on fishing."
Both: "Yes, boss."
Trini: "Hmph," and with that, she turned away, and silence returned.
Dante: "... ... ....." "It's five in the morning and I haven't slept a bit, thinking about your beauty. I'm going to stop."
* 10 seconds later *
There I was, running the boat with bandages over my mouth so I couldn't speak, all thanks to Arthur and Sulli, who in no time at all were sealing my speech.
Arthur: "Haaa," he said with a contented sigh. "Silence, my faithful companion. I didn't know I needed you until I lost you."
Sulli: "Why do you sing so badly, Dante? Is he doing it on purpose?"
Isis: "On purpose?"
Sulli: "On purpose."
Dante: "Hmmmmm hnnn hmmm hnnmn hmmm hnn," I said with my mouth closed.
Sulli: "Of course, that makes perfect sense."
Isis: "There," she said, holding up a small wool hat, which she placed on Hun, who already had a wool jacket and scarf matching his build. "It looks perfect on you, Hun."
Hun: [Warm and elegant.]
Arthur: "Wow, it looks pretty good on you; if you made it bigger, you could sell it in your old age."
Isis: "Hmm, I don't think so. I like flowers more, something like Celestia's style, but exclusively for flowers, not plants in general."
Dante: "So why don't you do it now?" I said, uncovering the bandage over my mouth, causing a deadly and awkward silence. "You don't have to wait until you're that old to do what you want."
Isis: "I could, but right now we're here, doing good, like superheroes."
Dante: "But remember, in theory, this is my dream, and you're the ones who've accompanied me and helped me achieve it; you're only doing it because it's good, and you're fulfilling your longed-for sense of freedom." I said flatly. "Remember what I was like before you met me: Trini was a fisherman, Arthur would have remained a lumberjack, Sulli would have become a 100% doctor, and if that religious cult thing hadn't happened to you back home, you would have still been a princess, a member of the nobility, or even a queen." No one said anything to me.
Dante: "I don't think this was your life before you met me, and due to certain circumstances, we ended up here, so I don't think this is your true dream." "All of you are still here because you have nothing else, at least most of you; we're still together because of the love and great friendship we have for each other." "But, since you helped me do all this, now I ask you, what do you really want?"
All: "..."
Trini: "Before I met Dante, I always focused on helping my father with his work, but now that I see the world, I think I want to do something else." "Helping people has changed me, and I think for the better. So if this ever ends, I would like to found a school so all children can have an education and be someone in the future."
Sulli: "I would like to open my own clinic and be the head doctor there so I can help as many people as possible, in addition to creating a laboratory to search for cures for incurable diseases."
Isis: "I'd like to open my own flower shop. Simple enough, right?"
Dante: "So everyone wants to be their own boss, huh? I don't know how badly I've done them."
Isis: "If we're the bosses of our own businesses, we can kick out the person who sings like they're cleaning a plate with a fork."
We all laughed, everyone except Arthur. He was there, with the Durindan spear, meditating.
Dante: "And you, Arthur, what do you want to do?"
Arthur: "I... I have no idea what to do, but I can't just chop wood with an axe anymore; I feel like I could do something else."
Dante: "Hmm, well, you have time to think, since I need you all for something, and I need everyone's help."
Trini: "I mean, you say we should make our own dreams come true, but you don't free us up to do it."
Dante: "Exactly. anyway, more than a new job, it's an incomplete one; this is something that time has eaten away at my mind, and now that we're strong enough to face big fish, that feeling has returned."
Sulli: "An incomplete job—when was that?"
Dante: "It was when I went on vacation and you were working, when we were practically searching the skies of the four seas and we didn't have to do it by sheer luck."
Trini: "Wait, are you talking about that time?"
Dante: "Yeah, that time they didn't just ask to identify him, but now we can do something even better than the pirates themselves."
Isis: "I don't remember much about that; what event are they talking about?"
Dante: "I'm talking about when they made us find the whereabouts of Shiki the Golden Lion."
Isis: "In other words."
Arthur: "Are we going to hunt down the pirate king's rival, Shiki the Flying Pirate?"
Dante: "Bingo."
Isis: "But you're sure of that, Dante."
Dante: "We have a ship that flies; the reason they can't beat Shiki is because of his Devil Fruit and maneuverability, not his strength." "Unlike them, we have something to keep up with, what do you say?"
Arthur: "If you go in, I'll go in, boss."
Sulli: "It'll be interesting to see how this turns out, so I'm going in."
Trini: "It might make a good target for target practice, so I'm going."
Isis: "I could mark myself as the great queen of the skies by knocking that guy down with this, so where do I sign?"
Dante: "I like his attitude; now, more importantly, does anyone have any idea where he is?"
All: "...", —absolute silence.
* End of flashback *
Arthur: "Whoops," he said, standing up. "I'm going for a walk; this will take a while," and with that, he left.
Dante: "I just hope this doesn't take us more than a year." I said, praying that luck would listen to me and not shit myself.
[Imagen]