Since she lost her chance at peace once she spat on my face, Admiral Akainu was taken as a prisoner, condemned to look at me and Shirahoshi act all lovey-dovey for the rest of our journey, it is the perfect punishment for her single sorry butt.
Aside from that, she'd die from abstinence since I am not trying to get her cigarettes.
I flew up the red line and resisted the urge to go and see Isabel. Then landed in the new world, this time, I was not in a rush. The flight was smooth.
"Did you like that, princess~" I asked Shirahoshi, who was still in the midst of experiencing her first expedition to the surface, with all problems included.
"I loved it! Let's surf the clouds again!"
"Anything my love wants~ once we come back, we will go all the way through the skies, just for you" Shirahoshi and I pecked lovingly while the annoying, ugly bandaged mummy milf tried to scream, but couldn't.
"We have many places to go. Let's go Dressrosa first," I said, taking the eternal pose to head towards the island of passion, looking forward to seeing how much it has recovered in a few months. Upon hearing Dressrosa, Sakazuki's ears perked up.
"Dressrosa…?" Shirahoshi asked.
"Yes, it is the Kingdom Hancock and the girls saved. I have some diplomacy to do there," I said awkwardly, knowing exactly well what sort of 'diplomacy' I was about to undertake.
"Are you going to marry their princess!?~" She clapped her hands together.
"E-Eh?"
How the hell does she know?!
"My mom said you were going to marry their princess. Her name is Viola, right?"
Oh, so my mother-in-law exposed me. Otohime, traitor, I thought you supported me!
"Yes… do you not mind?" I asked furtively, sometimes forgetting that not everyone is as mentally-ill as the rest of my girls and me. Thankfully, Shirahoshi is also not very well in the head as most One Piece characters.
"No! We can be friends! Aside from me, I have not met any other princess, and we're going to share a Veyron on top of that; it is wonderful!~" The mermaid was very happy at the prospect of making her first friend on the surface. I don't mind, no, I like that!
*phew* I sighed in relief.
Sakazuki screamed once again, something along the lines of 'nonsense! utter nonsense!', I slapped her arm to make her shut up. She screamed in pain for a second, then passed out again.
Keep quiet, lonely woman. What do you know about happiness? You're going to suffer until I re-educate you for what you did to Ace, or for what you're going to do to Ace... whatever.
"Viola is very fresh and happy, I'm sure you both will get along~"
I was trying to settle all my compromises. Viola was waiting for me, so is Yamato... although I don't have any relationship with that Oni, for having saved Hancock and the girls, I have to repay her somehow. If it wasn't for her... I don't know what I would have done to this world if my three little snakes were gone.
So, in a way, she saved me, but she also saved the world; she deserves a reward at least, right?
I had a few things to do in Dressrosa, then at the Kingdom of Prodence... there was a lot to do, but we took our dear time, I flirted with Shirahoshi at every turn, she caressed the Sea Kings around us and they acknowledged her as if she was their queen, I was astonished, I guess all mermaids have good relationship with sea creatures, much more so her, the prettiest mermaid.
Through it all, I felt Sakazuki's silent glare. I removed the bandage from her mouth, but she still didn't say a word. It is good that she has accepted her status as an insect on this ship. If she behaves, I may let her go after a warning, but if she doesn't... it is going to be painful.
The sea in the new world was chaotic; there were huge waves, but nothing I couldn't stop with my forcefield. Soon, we came across an island that left me and Shirahoshi awed.
"Wow, that island..."
This island had constant thunder falling in it; it was a lot, like a constant rain. Immediately, I felt attracted to it. There were massive amounts of kinetic energy.
"Let's get close!".
"Are you fucking crazy, Dark Mantle? You may be a lightning man, but this girl isn't... she will be in danger," Akainu hissed.
"Do you think I will put Shirahoshi in danger? Obviously, I'll protect her from the thunder, I just want to know the reason for this weather disarray".
"Tch".
"What, don't tell me you're scared of thunder now?~".
"Shut up".
Against the Admiral's wishes, we docked in the island's shore, and, as expected... it is quite brutal.
*CHAA!!*
*CHAA!!*
*CHAA!!*
*BOOM!*
I have never seen anything like this. As soon as I arrived, I had to set up a forcefield to protect us. There were dozens of lightning strikes falling around us every second. There was no sand, just charred soil burnt from so many thunder strikes falling on it constantly. There was even lightning sparks in the ground, as if it was charged statically.
This is a paradise island for me!
"You staying or coming? If you stay, I am not responsible, but you'd better be here when I come back, or there will be consequences," I warned Sakazuki
"I told you to shut up, brat... don't talk to me".
She huffed and walked behind us reluctantly. The thunder was falling all around us, but with a small barrier, I made it so that none of us would be struck. I even went as far as to capture all the kinetic energy that I could from each one of them.
I looked at Shirahoshi curiously, just like me, she's supposed to be a being of lightning now. I don't know much about axolotl but when I fought that guy of the CP0, he was using lightning.
"Shirahoshi, do you want to try taking one of those?"
"EH?!"
"Are you crazy, you lunatic?!"
Akainu was more worried about Shirahoshi than I expected. I ignored her and looked at Shirahoshi, "The devil fruit you ate has lightning properties, if I get struck by lightning, nothing is going to happen to me, but I'm curious to know what would happen to you, do you wanna try?".
Shirahoshi looked at me, troubled.
"If you don't want it is okay, darling".
"I-I will!"
Calling her darling seems to have worked, though I promise I absolutely didn't set her up or anything like that!
Shirahoshi stepped out of the forcefield. I was ready to go to her since I only wanted on strike to hit her, no more. Just as I thought, the moment a strike hit her, there was no reaction.
Shirahoshi released a little 'kya!' but that was it.
"How did it feel?".
"It tickles!~".
"W-What...? What devil fruit did you give to her?".
"None of your business. Since Shirahoshi and I are both immune to lightning, good luck".
!!!
I released the barrier, and immediately, lightning strikes started falling on us. In my case, I didn't really feel tickles, but I noticed Shirahoshi's skin began to change into a light blue tone in the places where the lightning impacted her.
'Could it be helping her...?'
I thought I should take her and Gion here sometime, maybe this place could be a good training ground for us. I don't know how, but I'll make sure to exploit this island. If not because I don't know how this lightning barrage works, I wouldn't even mind taking it to the calm belt in the skies. It is too good to waste!
As soon as the lightning started falling, Akainu felt the danger and looked at me, troubled. She kept flickering back and forth with rokushiki, but obviously, she wasn't nearly fast enough to counter this lightning.
"You look troubled, do you need help?~".
"Who needs your help?!"
"Veyron, please", Shirahoshi puffed her cheeks again at me, and I sighed, creating a force field around Sakazuki. Are these two going to be best friends or what? couldn't find any less compatible combination of people, and yet they hang out well, mysterious.
"Thanks, princess".
"Bitch, I am the one who put the forcefield!".
"Shut up, kid! Did I ask you to?!".
"You wench!".
We couldn't see each other to the eye. I huffed a lightning breath and moved away from her, tired of her nonsense and more curious about what we were going to find moving forward. For a moment, we couldn't see anything, but I could feel several powerful presences of beasts on the island; these beasts had a strong will like anything I had seen, not even my pets in Rusukaina.
Their will is strong but also savage, relentless, like tigers.
'How come this island was here all this time, and nobody told me anything? I will ask Hancock...' My beloved snake should have come around here during her expedition, although, as I understand it, there are different paths one can take by following the log poses; maybe her path did not lead her to this island.
"What's the name of this island?" I asked Sakazuki, as a marine Admiral, she should have a lot of information.
"..."
No words, as expected.
"You don't have to be a stubborn bitch all the time, surely you can have a conversation, no?" I hissed.
I heard a twitch of her tongue before she spoke, "... It is called Raijin Island, the island of constant thunder".
"Raijin..."
"Pirates and marines avoid it alike; there is not even a point in being here, let's go" Sakazuki turned around to go, but no one followed her. Upon looking at Shirahoshi, who was giggling, the woman recapitulated, twitching her tongue again.
"Annoying brats, you don't know how dangerous this island is, there is no point in being here! Hurry up and go to Dressrosa as you planned–".
"No point? You're as dumb as I thought".
*SNORT*
I looked around, "For constant lightning to happen in this island, that means the clouds are constantly charged kinetically, which is not a normal phenomenon, that means there is something in this island that's making the weather like this, mostly an electromagnetic disorder relative to either an object or a person".
"Like a..."
"A very valuable treasure that's charged with energy, or a living being that's extremely strong, or something of the sort... don't you think that's interesting~".
Sakazuki frowned, setting his gaze into the deeper charred woods charged with static electricity. Deeper inside, there were dangers, but also mysteries.
"Come on, you can't be so boring", I beckoned us to get deeper inside
Soon, we saw a silhouette that became apparent in the forest, I stood on guard and so did Akainu.
"Inhabitants...?" Akainu frowned, as far as the Marine knew, there were no inhabitants on this island. I understood, how could there be? Just the fact that this person is alive means they're not normal.
The person in question revealed themselves amidst the thunder, it was a cloaked old woman, to make things worse. Shirahoshi immediately hooked up her arm against mine, as she should... to be honest, even I am a little scared. What the fuck is this place, Silent Hill?
"Good afternoon, gentlemen, ladies~" She greeted us casually, and I noticed she was holding several umbrellas.
We looked at the sky, it was all cloudy and ugly, what an afternoon...? How could she even tell?
"Good afternoon, baba (granny), my name is Veyron, these are Hoshi and Akainu" I greet her out of courtesy, but I was ready for a jumpscare at any second.
"My name is Kasa, I welcome you to the island of Raijin. It has been so long since we last had tourists, please do not be afraid and enjoy your stay on the island~".
"Do you know what causes this weather, Kasa?" I asked her.
"I do not know, boy. For as long as I have lived, this island blesses us with such beautiful lightning. Here, would you like an umbrella? It will help you~".
"..."
We took three umbrellas and paid Kasa a few bellies, more to help her than anything else, but then I thought, 'what is she even going to do with that money here...?'
"Let's just walk for a bit" I said, walking deeper inside without needing any umbrellas. Sakazuki and Shirahoshi followed us, although I noticed the Admiral was very much reluctant to step further inside.
"Hai~ I think all this lightning is so beautiful, Veyron".
"Doesn't it scare you?".
"No, it reminds me of you, so..."
Even amidst this chaotic apocalypse of Lightning, Shirahoshi still somehow makes me blush.
"Oh, you little, stop saying things you don't mean".
"I mean it!~ it is such beautiful lightning, and when it touches me, it feels great, I don't know how to explain it".
"It must be because of your devil fruit, coming here might have actually been profitable for you, just bask in the lightning and feel it".
"Hai!~".
I noticed that Akainu took the umbrella and put it over her head, but then she realised the nonsense she was doing and threw it away in annoyance. As we set off, I couldn't help but feel Kasa's gaze on us at all times.
It doesn't matter... if it comes down to it, I'll just have Astrape & Bronte blow up this island; there is enough kinetic energy in this place to do so at least twenty times.