"𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓮 𝓰𝓾𝔂 𝓼𝓪𝓲𝓭 𝓶𝔂 𝓪𝓾𝓻𝓪'𝓼 𝓶𝓸𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓸𝓷𝓮, 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 '𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓱𝓲𝓰𝓱."

***

You are sadly mistaken if you thought things would be smooth sailing after Coco Village. In more ways than one. Firstly, a problem they were facing was their dynamic. The crew's dynamic now that all of them were together and stuck on a boat with each other was much different than when they first started sailing. It wasn't that they all hated each other. That was far from the truth. Artemisia couldn't even imagine saying that she hated any of them in any capacity. She definitely could say that they annoyed her from time to time.

Let's get into it. Luffy was very thrill-seeking. He was always keeping them on their toes, making them worry for his sanity and safety at all times. For some reason, he decided that hanging from the tip of the ship was a good idea. Just sitting on it was far too boring for him now. Zoro was still almost accidentally taking their heads off with his swords. Everyone had to make sure to keep their distance from him when he was practicing... Or sleeping... Or napping... Or any time.

Next is Usopp. Usopp had been trying to practice with his slingshot skills. If you ask Artemisia, they seemed okay. They were enough to where he could hold his own in a fight. But he still insisted on getting better. Correction: he insisted on trying to make super cool moves that would impress an audience of people. Now, Sanji had been okay for a little bit. That is if you don't take his flirting into account.

If you do bring his flirting into the equation then Artemisia could confidently say that she wanted to throw him overboard on multiple occasions. He didn't flirt with her, especially after finding out she doesn't swing that way. That didn't mean that he stopped flirting with Nami, though. He flirted with her any chance he got. Nami would either ignore him or use it to her advantage when it could get her something. Artemisia's head wanted to explode whenever she saw Nami entertaining the cook's infatuation with her (Nami).

With Nami, she had gotten a bit better when it came to interacting with the others. She didn't seem as annoyed or like she wanted to brutally murder them when they messed up somehow. She spent most of her time in the orange tree grove they had installed for her. When Nami did interact with the others, there wasn't as much aggression. It was much more appreciated. That didn't mean that she always let Artemisia flirt with her. This was one thing she remained constant with.

Their dynamic was tricky... But Artemisia could still find herself easily saying that she enjoyed it. It was not conventional in any way. There is no way that someone could look into their team dynamic and think they want that for themselves. But Artemisia loved it more than anything. However, there were still times when it was severely lacking. This was to be expected. No team was ever perfect.

It was hard to be the perfect team when you were trying to get through what Artemisia swore was the worst storm that they had ever seen. Thunder and lighting billowed overhead. Rain hit the deck of the ship and coated it. They were barely able to take a step without slipping. Waves crashed against the sides of the ship. You might be wondering what the crew could be doing in this circumstance.

As expected, Nami was barking orders at them, "We need to make sure that the ship stays on course!" She gave out more instructions on what they should do to make sure that they headed directly for the Grand Line.

A sight made Artemisia almost burst out laughing. Sanji was running to do what Nami told him (Artemisia wasn't sure what that was. She was mostly just admiring that orange-haired girl) when he crashed into one of the many poles of the ship. He grabbed onto it and hauled himself up to his feet, "The ship won't be able to hold!"

And he was right. This ship was a good vessel. It held up pretty well so far, but Artemisia didn't think it could hold up much longer under the stress it was facing. It seemed like the ship wasn't the only one facing stress, "It looks like you guys got it handled, so I'm just gonna go insi-"

The person, which was Usopp if you couldn't tell, was cut off by Zoro. Zoro was trying to help with the sails. Once he saw Usopp trying to scurry back inside, he grabbed the sheath of one of his swords and held it in the man's way to stop him from getting any further, "Not so fast. Go help Luffy." Before Usopp could make an excuse for not knowing where Luffy was, Nami pointed him out.

It was also quite an interesting sight to see. Luffy was in charge of steering the ship since Nami was focused on the sails specifically. This was a job that Artemisia highly doubted that he could do efficiently. She honestly thought that it would be a complete disaster. What she saw was instead one of the funniest things she had ever seen. Luffy was putting his whole body weight into trying to make sure that the wheel didn't go in whichever direction it wanted. What made Artemisia finally burst out laughing was his next words.

The words were hard to make out over the sound of thunder and rain hitting the deck. Artemisia was lucky enough to be closer to him in terms of positioning, so she was able to hear him much better than the others. What came out of his mouth was, "I got it! I got it!" Another wave crashed into the side of the ship, and his feet slipped out from under him. The only reason he didn't fall off the ship's side was his death grip on the wheel. "I don't got it! I DON'T GOT IT!"

Upon hearing that, Usopp quickly rushed over once the ship stabilized itself to help him out. During this time, Artemisia found herself trying to make sure that one of the sails stayed rolled up while Zoro and Nami worked on the others. She has to say that she was doing a pretty good job. Or, at least, that's what she thought. She found out otherwise when Nami yelled, "Artemisia, your sail's slipping." Artemisia looked up just to see that she was right. The brunette huffed and worked even harder to ensure the sail remained as it should be.

There was not a single idea in her mind about what they were going to do. As far out as Artemisia could see, there was only the storm. There didn't seem to be an area where the storm was calmer or there wasn't a storm at all. She could only see the chaotic sea, water billowing down, and lights flashing across the sky. Though... Hold on... There was something! Artemisia narrowed her eyes to get a better look, which proved to be very hard when water kept getting into her eyes.

Eventually, she was able to make it out. "Do you guys see that?" She called out over the gusts of wind and the roar of rain. The only one to hear her was Sanji. The blonde, who was starting to look like a brunette with his hair soaking, looked at her with confusion before looking in the direction she faced. That's when he saw it, too.

"It's an island!" He called out.

Now, everyone had heard him. He spoke much louder than Artemisia did, mostly from the relief he felt from seeing some kind of land. He was thinking the same thing that Artemisia was. If that was truly an island, they could dock their ship there until the storm passed. There was no way they could keep going in weather like this. Artemisia turned her gaze to Nami, sending her signals as to what she thought they should do. Thankfully, she seemed to be way ahead of Artemisia.

Once again, Nami was back to barking orders, "Luffy, Usopp, steer us toward the island."

"Got it!" Usopp shouted back.

"What island?" Luffy asked.

It is honestly a miracle that they hadn't died yet with him steering the ship. Usopp mostly took the lead in getting them toward the island. As they got closer and closer, Artemisia took a moment to inspect the land that they were reaching. It was interesting, to say the least. Like most islands obviously do, it had a beach with a dock. There seemed to be some men on the beach, probably fishing. What was most interesting was what was behind them.

Behind the men was some kind of wall. It was a wall built from a material that Artemisia couldn't exactly recall, especially not from far away. The wall was built miles and miles high, and they seemed to stretch around the island. The sight made Artemisia wonder just what the wall was for. Were they trying to keep something out? Or were they trying to keep something in? She had a feeling they were going to find out.

It didn't take long for them to finally reach the island, though it felt like an eternity. As soon as they were close enough to the dock, Zoro and Usopp hopped off the ship and started helping successfully dock the ship. Once they were secured, the others also headed off the ship. The storm was still ongoing, but it was much tamer around the island.

A shiver went down Artemisia's spine as she felt something. She wasn't sure what exactly it was, but she knew it was definitely something. The girl turned in the direction of where she felt the strange feeling and saw it was the men she had seen while she was on the ship. As she thought, they were fishermen. They were unraveling nets with fish inside them but stopped when they saw them pulling up to the island.

Only one of them was brave enough to approach them. It was an older man with dark hair, and he stood taller than Usopp but shorter than Sanji. He cautiously approached them but still seemed welcoming, "Hello there. Taking shelter from the storm?"

"Yeah. It was going to take out our ship if we stayed out there any longer," Artemisia responded. She took a moment to look at the ship, trying to see if there was any damage. While doing so, she saw that Usopp was doing the same. It made sense seeing as he worked on the ship previously. He developed a small attachment to it. As far as she could see, there was no harm to the ship at all.

A noise caught Artemisia's attention. It was a small gasp. She froze for a second before turning in the direction of the sound. It was the man still. He was staring at Artemisia with a look of shock. He stepped forward to get a better look at her. This was something that Artemisia didn't like at all. She found herself stepping closer to Nami, trying to avoid his piercing stare. Finally, he seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

It was as if he realized that he was starting to be creepy toward her. He stepped back, and a sheepish smile appeared on his face, "Sorry about that," He scratched the back of his head. "You just look... Anyway," The quick change of tone and subject made Artemisia suspiciously stare at him. What was he going to say? She didn't have much time to think about it since he quickly moved on. "I can talk with the village head for you about staying for the night. I doubt any of you would want to go back out in such a bad storm. Much less sleep out in it."

"Thank you!" Luffy grinned. "Take us to your leader."

The villager did so. While on their way to speak to this village head, the villager chatted with them. He asked about their travels and what they were doing before they ended up in the storm. He asked questions about where they were going and what they were planning on doing next. Artemisia knew that the questions came from a place of interest, but she couldn't shake off the feeling she was getting. There was something about the way he looked at her before that she just couldn't shake.

The group was led outside a hut that was one of the biggest out of the smaller ones they'd seen. The man told them to wait outside while he went in first to speak with the village head. The others stayed behind like he'd asked, and they spoke among themselves about how lucky they were to end up on an island with such welcoming people already. Still, there was something off about what was going to to Artemisia. She found herself biting her nails anxiously while her thoughts ran wild with the multiple possibilities.

Nothing could break her out of her thoughts... Except for one thing. The brush over a shoulder tapping her's brought her out of her thoughts. Nami, who'd seen how deep in thought she was, had been the one to break her out of her head. Nami furrowed her brow in confusion, "Are you okay?"

Quickly, Artemisia nodded, "Yeah, yeah," More thoughts ran through her head after she said that. She shook her head and breathed deeply, "It's just weird."

"You mean about what he did earlier?" Nami inquired. It was a relief to know that Artemisia wasn't the only one who noticed how weird that interaction was. Artemisia nodded with a look of ease. "That was weird. Try not to interact with him too much." Oh, there was no way that Artemisia was ever going to interact with him unless she had to. That was something that she was assured she would avoid doing.

Neither of the girls said anything else. They weren't able to say anything else. They all became very interested in the man who came rushing out of the front door to the giant house. It was an older man. He had white hair and a white beard. His eyes scanned the pirates until his gaze landed on one specifically.

The person that he was so interested in was Artemisia. Once again, Artemisia found herself shifting in anxiety. The man walked down the steps and walked until he stood a foot or two away from Artemisia. In a gesture to soothe herself, Artemisia moved her hair behind her ear, "Is there anything wrong?"

The sound of her voice seemed to shock him even more. It was like something inside him clicked. Suddenly, the older man reached forward and wrapped her up into a hug. Artemisia remained rigid as his arms squeezed her tightly. He spoke under his breath in a whisper, but Artemisia was still able to make out what he was saying. He said the same thing over and over again, like he was put on a loop, "Thank the Gods."

What in the actual hell was happening? Artemisia shot a puzzled look at the others, but they all seemed just as confused as she was. It didn't feel like the man was going to be letting her go anytime soon. She could tell by the way his grip was only getting tighter and tighter. She did the only thing she could think of: speaking. Unfortunately, she didn't know what to say to him, so what ended up coming out was, "Um..."

Again, the sound of her voice sparked something in him. It was as if he had just now realized what he was doing. The grip on her body froze, and he retracted his arms as quickly as he could without hurting her. He took a step back and smiled at her, a look of apology on his face, "I'm sorry, young lady. It's just been such a long time since I've seen that face."

"What's up with my face?" Artemisia inquired. He specifically said, "that face," which implied that he had seen it before. The problem was that Artemisia knew she had never been here before. She felt like she would know if she had been on an island with a huge wall all around it. But he sounded so sure that he'd seen her face. There was no way he could remember a face he'd never seen. 

There was a moment when the man looked confused. It seemed as if he didn't fully understand what she was asking. His eyes then widened when he processed her question. He shook his head wildly, "Oh, no, there's nothing wrong with your face! It's just... I've seen that face before. I'm assuming it was your mother's."

"My mother's?" Artemisia found herself looking to the others once again. None of them knew what to say either. All they could do was watch the interaction unfolding in front of them.

Every time the man spoke, it was like suddenly more questions arose. The man realized this as well. He decided to answer the questions before any more could spring up, "She must've not mentioned it then. You see, your mother used to live in our village in her youth. She was such an important child to us all. We seldom recovered when she disappeared."

Okay, some questions were put to rest, but even more appeared in Artemisia's mind. Her mother was originally from this village from what this man was saying. She had also apparently disappeared from here. But how was any of that possible?  She hadn't heard anything like this from her mother. Artemisia's face was scrunched up in even more confusion, "I didn't know that my mother lived here. She didn't talk much about her childhood." Correction, she didn't talk about her childhood at all.

There was something about Artemisia's statement that upset the man. His brow furrowed into distaste. There was something about her words that he didn't particularly care for. This look vanished when he realized that his inner thoughts were showing on his face. A well-meaning grin spread across his face, "My name is Elias, I'm the head of the village. We would be more than happy to let you stay for as long as you need," He turned and gestured for a new man to step up. This man was quite short. He had striking green eyes that reminded Artemisia of emeralds. The man, Elias, spoke a few hushed words to the new man before turning back to the others, "This is Maxwell. He'll be showing you to our most lavish living quarters."

The new man, Maxwell, motioned for them to follow him, and they all did so, thanking Elias before they left. The villager from before followed along as well for some reason. Artemisia could hear Luffy already asking about where he could find the nearest food place. She didn't focus too much on the conversation they were having with Maxwell, instead, she found herself looking back at Elias. He was looking very intently at the group as they were walking away, more specifically, Artemisia.

Another shiver ran down her spine. She forced herself to look away from him and shook her head. She was probably being overdramatic. Elias was kind enough to let them stay in his village. He had been nothing but courteous to them. She was just overthinking. It was bound to happen, especially after everything they had just gone through in Coco Village.

A question from Zoro made Artemisia focus back on the conversation, "What's that?" Artemisia turned to him. He was looking in a particular direction. Artemisia moved her gaze to see what he'd been looking at. There was a building made of stone that was in the shape of a pyramid. The stone was yellow, almost looking like gold. If you were far enough away, you could easily mistake it for gold.

The villager from before happily answered his question, "That's the temple. It's where we pray to our gods and do rituals from them," There was such a blinding smile on his face as he spoke about the place. This smile dimmed into a frown as the next words came out of his mouth, "Though, I can't help but feel like they've already abandoned us."

It was clear that everyone wanted to ask questions. What did he mean? Why did he feel like their gods had abandoned them? None of them were able to ask anything about it. Maxwell quickly broke into the conversation, "Let's keep moving. We're almost there." A grin was on his face as he stared at the group. It was hard to miss his slight glare toward the villager.

After that interaction, the villager left them to go back and continue the job that he was doing before they showed up. Maxwell led them to a house that was almost as big as Elias'. It looked grand on the outside and looked even grander on the inside. The decor was absolutely beautiful. There were many paintings and antiques placed around. There were doors to very comfortable-looking bedrooms.

"This looks so cool!" Usopp exclaimed. He and Luffy automatically went and ran to try and claim the biggest room. Sanji wandered off as well, no doubt, to try and find the kitchen. Zoro headed toward the couch in the living area and sat down, sinking into the comfortable cushions. Nami looked like she also wanted to look around but stuck by Artemisia's side, not feeling comfortable leaving her alone with Maxwell with how weirdly everyone they'd encountered had been acting toward her.

There was also something about the smile on Maxwell's face that made her skin crawl. Maxwell noticed the look that Nami was giving him and only grinned in her direction. He turned in the direction of the others and spoke once more, "You can rest here for the night. Tomorrow, you'll have to prepare for the grand feast!"

Now this was news. Artemisia didn't hear anything about a feast. From how the village was talking their heads off, she had a feeling he would mention something about a grand feast. Artemisia turned her gaze to him, "Feast? What kind of feast is it?"

The grin on Maxwell's face seemed to deepen as he faced her, "Well, it's for you, of course!" For her? What for? She didn't do anything. She just got here. Why would they be throwing a grand feast for her? Before Artemisia can ask why, Maxwell left them without another word, leaving them all to their own devices for the time being.

"He seems to think that we'll be here long enough for the feast tomorrow," Nami commented.

"Yeah," Artemisia agreed. "There's just something off. I can't explain it."

The orange-haired girl looked at the brunette for a moment. Seeing the look of anxiety present on her features, she tried her best to calm her in any way that she could, "We'll be on our guard just in case," Artemisia nodded but didn't say anything else. Nami lightly hit her arm, "Come on, we better hurry and pick out our room before Usopp and Luffy trash them all." Nami walked deeper into the grand house while Artemisia stood firmly in her spot. She had a feeling that if she took a step further, she would be wrapped up in something she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be part of. But from how natural Nami took that first step, Artemisia also wanted to take the leap. So that's exactly what Artemisia did.

~~~

Hey, guys! I hope you guys like this first chapter of my original storyline. I feel a little unsure about it, specifically when it comes to the characterization of the Straw Hat Crew. What do you guys think? Do you have any thoughts? Please let me know! Also, your girl is making a new Nami story 😭. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!