The sun was setting, painting the sky in vibrant shades of orange and purple. By the time the small sloop approached the waters near West Ali Island, it was almost dark.
The delicious aroma of cooking wafted from the galley. Inside, Darian was wearing an apron, working a spatula over the stove.
Cooking was supposed to be Nami's job, but she had flatly refused, citing the oil fumes and the risk of ruining her hands from washing dishes. However, after tasting Darian's cooking—and realizing that Darian could just use his Devil Fruit powers to absorb any grease or dirt off her skin anyway—Nami simply let him take over.
In his past life, Darian had been a busy office worker, but eating out every day would have eaten up his entire salary. So, he had learned to cook for himself. Tonight's menu was simple but hearty: shredded pork with garlic sauce, braised pork belly, and Kung Pao chicken.
At the bow of the ship, Nami was checking their heading. She smelled the food and patted her flat stomach, her mouth watering.
"Nami, dinner's ready!" Darian called out from the galley.
"Coming!" Nami replied.
She picked up her binoculars for one last sweep of the horizon, just to make sure the waters were clear before she went inside to eat.
As she scanned the darkening sea, a small shape caught her eye.
"Darian!" Nami shouted. "Come out here for a second! Something's out there."
Darian set down the plates and jogged out onto the deck.
Although it was a single-masted vessel, their sloop was much nicer than the Going Merry. It had a sleek design and a highly responsive rudder, making it easy for Nami to maneuver. She quickly adjusted their course to intercept the drifting object.
"What did you see?" Darian asked, leaning over the rail.
"A small dinghy," Nami pointed west. "It's just drifting. Someone might have been shipwrecked."
The sloop closed the distance quickly. The waxing crescent moon provided enough light to see clearly.
Thump.
The dinghy bumped gently against the hull of their ship. Darian grabbed the railing, stretching his Human Path silicone arm downward to secure the smaller boat.
He looked inside. Nami leaned over the rail next to him.
"It's a little girl," Darian said, his brow furrowing. "And she's unconscious."
"Well, don't just stare at her!" Nami scolded. "Bring her up!"
"Right."
Inside the Cabin.
"What an adorable little girl! But what is she doing out here alone?" Nami asked, looking down at the child resting on Darian's bed.
"Pirates, probably," Darian mused, stroking his chin. "Look at her face. She's been crying."
The girl had shoulder-length, curly blonde hair with neat bangs. She possessed an angelic face with large, doll-like features and a dusting of freckles across her cheeks. She was dressed in a blue-and-white ruffled dress, looking every bit like a little princess.
"Her lips are cracked," Darian noted. "Let's get her some water before we start guessing."
He grabbed a canteen, and Nami gently helped the little girl sit up.
As the water touched her lips, the girl drank greedily. She gulped it down so fast she started coughing.
Her large blue eyes fluttered open.
"Daddy!" she cried out instinctively.
She looked around the unfamiliar cabin, her eyes darting nervously. When she saw Darian and Nami standing over her, she shrank back against the headboard, terrified.
"Don't be afraid," Nami said, putting on her sweetest, most reassuring smile. "You're safe here. We're good people."
Darian rolled his eyes internally. What bad person ever admits to being bad?
The little girl looked at Nami, then at Darian. Darian's enhanced features and warm aura seemed to calm her down slightly. She didn't sense the malice typical of pirates.
She let out a small sigh of relief, but her next words completely shattered the peace.
"Auntie," the little girl asked, looking at Nami. "Where is this?"
Auntie.
A vein bulged visibly on Nami's forehead. Darian was certain that if this wasn't a traumatized child, Nami would have already punched her through the hull. Nami was barely eighteen! She was in the prime of her youth! Auntie?!
Nami's face twitched. She forced her sweet smile to stay in place, though her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Little sister, what's your name?"
Sensing the sudden, terrifying aura radiating from Nami, the little girl scrambled across the bed and wrapped her arms around Darian's waist.
She looked up at Darian, flashing a cute, innocent smile. "Big Brother! That Auntie is so fierce!"
Oh, she's good, Darian thought, fighting back a laugh. The kid was a master of deflection. She was terrified, but she was using her cuteness as a shield.
Nami shot Darian a glare that promised a slow, painful death if he laughed.
Darian cleared his throat, maintaining a neutral expression. He gently patted the girl's head.
"My name is Darian," he said softly. "And this beautiful young lady is Nami. What's your name?"
Darian's Human Path affinity worked its magic. The girl relaxed her grip slightly, feeling genuinely safe with him.
"Hello, Big Brother," she said sweetly. "My name is Carol."
"Carol. That's a very pretty name," Darian smiled. "Can you tell us what happened? Why were you out on the sea all by yourself?"
At the question, the cute smile vanished. Carol's lower lip trembled, and the facade broke.
"My daddy..." tears welled up in her large blue eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "My daddy was captured by pirates while trying to protect me!"
Darian and Nami exchanged a serious look. The playful atmosphere evaporated.
"It's okay," Darian said, gently picking her up. "You're with us now. You must be starving. We just finished cooking. Let's eat, and then you can tell us everything. We'll help you."
At the dinner table, Darian and Nami kept putting food onto Carol's plate. Despite her hunger and her grief, the little girl ate very politely, taking small, ladylike bites. She was incredibly composed for a child who had just lost her father.
After she finished eating, she finally told them the whole story.
Her name was Carol Masterson. Her father was Daddy Masterson, a bounty hunter.
Darian didn't immediately recognize the name, but Nami gasped.
"Daddy the Father?" Nami said, surprised. "He's a very famous bounty hunter in the East Blue! He used to be a Marine Ensign, one of their best snipers, but he resigned to take care of you, right?"
As Nami explained, it finally clicked in Darian's memory.
Daddy the Father. The sniper in Loguetown who fought Usopp in that filler episode. Daddy was a master marksman who had once tied with Yasopp (Usopp's father) in a duel.
Darian always found the logic of One Piece adults baffling. Yasopp abandoned his wife and newborn son to go be a pirate because "the pirate flag was calling him." Daddy, on the other hand, quit a stable, prestigious job in the Marines—where he could have easily taken a desk job—to become a bounty hunter, which was arguably just as dangerous, all to raise his daughter.
"What happened to him, Carol?" Darian asked gently.
Carol sniffled. "Daddy was hunting the captain of the Twin Blades Pirates. He's really good with his gun! He beat the captain easily. But then... another pirate ship showed up."
She looked down at her lap. "It was a huge ship. The captain wore gold armor. Daddy said they were the Krieg Pirates."
Darian frowned.
Krieg.
Don Krieg was supposed to be destroyed by Mihawk in the Grand Line, then finished off by Luffy at the Baratie. But because Darian had altered the timeline (and presumably because Luffy had fought the York Pirates instead), Krieg was still roaming the East Blue, trying to rebuild his fleet.
Since the Twin Blades Pirates used to work for Arlong, Krieg was likely trying to absorb them. And Daddy Masterson had walked right into the middle of it.
The butterfly effect, Darian realized with a sinking feeling.
Because he had killed Arlong early, the power dynamics in the East Blue had shifted. And because of those shifts, this little girl's father was going to be killed.
Darian looked at Carol's tear-stained face. He felt a sudden, heavy weight of responsibility.
I have to fix this, he thought. I'm not letting Krieg touch him.
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