"𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓭𝓲𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓵 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓽𝓸𝓾𝓬𝓱. 𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓫𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓔𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂𝓫𝓸𝓭𝔂 𝔀𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓲𝓽 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓫𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾."

***

First nights were always rough. Artemisia had two select memories of her most challenging first nights. One was when her mother got a new ship. Philippa had the same boat from when she first started her journey for years. Philippa and a few others she gathered together stole a pirate ship from a docked crew. They waited until the crew was passed out at the bar from the amount of alcohol they consumed. Once out of it, Philippa and her crew stole the boat and set off. It was the pirate crew's fault for leaving it unattended.

That ship they stole was where Artemisia grew up. The ship had a special place in her heart. It upset her greatly when they had to get a new ship. The previous ship went through a lot of wear and tear over the years, so they couldn't keep using it. They moved to a new ship, and Artemisia remembered that she could not sleep. Everything felt wrong. The bed felt wrong, the blanket felt wrong. None of it was right.

It was the same way she felt when she stayed with Axel. The first night, she refused to sleep. She believed her mother would realize that leaving her behind was a mistake. She stayed up the entire night, waiting to see if her mother would return for her. Axel tried to reason with her. He told her that her mother thought staying with him was the best for her. She honestly believed that he was lying to her. She gave him a really hard time, something she regretted now.

Now, it was her first time on this island. In this house, in this bed. It all felt wrong. However, she wasn't sure if it was because it was her first night or if it was because of the bad feeling she had. There was something that didn't feel right about the island. While Nami shared her worries, everyone else seemed a little more calm. To them, this place was okay enough. They provided them a place to stay and were invited to the feast the next day. It was great. Artemisia knew she should've been more trusting toward the people on the island. But something in the back of her mind said she shouldn't let her guard down.

To put it simply, Artemisia didn't get much sleep. She eventually fell asleep, but it was when it was almost time for the sun to rise. Unfortunately for her, she didn't end up sleeping for long. She woke up not even an hour after she slept. When she couldn't go back to bed, she decided to walk around the town. It looked nice enough. It was still raining, but the town had tents all around the town that shielded everyone from the rain. Looked like it rained quite frequently. Artemisia just hoped that the storm would let up soon. They needed to head to the Grand Line.

Artemisia put on her shoes and headed outside. She was grabbed as soon as she stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her. She couldn't catch a glimpse of the perpetrators at first. She struggled in the grasp of the people grabbing at her. It wasn't too hard, seeing as they weren't very strong. She pushed herself away from the people and glared at them, "What do you want with me?"

The people who tried to kidnap her were a group of women. There were about five or six of them, and they were dressed in dresses that were either knee-length or floor-length. The group of women stared at her with confusion. The one in the front spoke first, "Did they not tell you?" The woman had curly black hair and gray eyes. Her skin was pale like it didn't see the sun much. The look Artemisia gave her was enough for her to understand that the girl was confused. The woman let out a laugh, "Oh, I'm sorry. We must have frightened you. We're supposed to help you, Miss."

Hearing the term "Miss" was something that surprised Artemisia. She rarely heard anyone address her that way. They either called her by her name, a nickname, or whatever they thought would offend her. Artemisia reminded herself of the rest of the woman's sentence and stared at the woman with even more confusion. She was still on guard, not wanting to take any chances. "Help me with what? I don't need help." She didn't even ask for it.

Another woman, with pin-straight blonde hair and brown eyes, looked her up and down. There was a look of distaste on her features, "With that wardrobe, you need all the help you can get." The comment made Artemisia pause. She stared down at her clothes with a worried expression. It didn't look that bad, did it? She liked it. Did she have bad fashion taste?

The previous woman who had spoken turned quickly to the blonde woman, "Gianna!" The blonde woman, Gianna, jumped at the sudden shout. She stared at Artemisia and her eyes widened before she stepped back, keeping her eyes glued to the ground. Artemisia gave the girl a puzzled look before returning to the other woman. She found the woman smiling at her, "We're supposed to help you get ready for the feast, of course! I'm surprised no one told you."

"I heard about the feast," Artemisia stated. "I didn't know I had to dress up for it. I don't have dressy clothes, " She only wore the same three or four outfits. That's how much she could fit in her bag when she left her island and Kaya's mansion. She was pretty sure that the clothes she brought from her island had holes in them, though. A new thought occurred to her, "Why haven't you gone to help the others get ready as well?" In other words, why was she being singled out?

Momentarily, the woman gave her a curious look. It was like she didn't know why Artemisia asked her that. The woman then spoke to her like she was spelling out a difficult word for a child, "It's because you're the guest of honor," Before Artemisia could get another question in, the woman turned to the group of women behind her, "Come on, ladies! We've got to get her ready."

And just like that, the group of women were back to dragging her off to god-knows-where. Artemisia resisted less this time. They didn't seem like they were going to harm her. She doubted they could do much with how easily she could break away from them before. "What is this feast for? Why am I the guest of honor?" Something she'd been wondering for a while. Maxwell said last night that the feast was for her, and now these women were saying that she was the guest of honor for the feast. But why?

Unfortunately, the girl never got an answer. All the women did was look her over as they dragged her off into a building. In the building, they brought her into a room that looked like one of those rooms that performers usually get ready in. Makeup was sitting on a vanity, and there was stuff to do hair on it as well. Racks and racks of clothes were around the room. It was overwhelming, to say the least. Artemisia had a feeling that it would be a long day.

***

There was something off. Nami knew that. When she woke up, she could faintly hear the others talking. She only heard male voices, so she assumed that Artemisia was still sleeping. Nami opened her eyes and turned to the bed beside her's. There was no Artemisia in sight. That was definitely odd. If Artemisia were awake, she surely would've heard her talking with the others. Maybe she went to the bathroom? Nami could only hope.

The explanation didn't sit well with her. She did the only thing she could think of. Nami got out of bed and immediately headed out of the room. She saw Sanji in his natural habitat, the kitchen. Zoro was lying on the couch with his hands behind his head. He was chastising Luffy and Usopp, who were goofing around, for being too loud when he was trying to nap. Nami could see that Artemisia was nowhere in sight. She glanced at the door to the bathroom to see it was wide open. Now it was starting to get a little concerning.

Wait. Nami stopped herself. She shouldn't freak out yet. If Artemisia wasn't in the bathroom, then maybe she was outside... Outside in a new environment with people who already seemed suspicious. Okay, now it was about time to start worrying. Hold on, why does she even care? She is getting an opportunity to completely dodge the annoyance of Artemisia's flirtation. She can relax as much as she's able to with the guys around.

Despite thinking this, she was still worried about the brunette. Nami stepped further out into the living area. The others saw her. It looked like Sanji was about to wish her good morning before Nami cut him off entirely. There was no smile on her face. Instead, there was a look of anxiety, "Where's Artemisia?"

The boys looked at her in confusion. Zoro was the first to respond to Nami's worry-filled question, "She slept in the room with you last night." Yeah, that much was obvious. There was no way she would willingly sleep in the room with the guys. Nami was sure that her inner thoughts were also showing on her face.

"We thought she was sleeping in with you," Sanji responded. He put down his knife, which he was using to cut up some vegetables. He grabbed the towel that rested on his shoulder and used it to wipe his hands. "Did you see her in bed?"

This question was stupid. Anyone, besides these idiots, could tell that. Nami shot a, "Are you serious?" expression at the cook. She crossed her arms and stood rigidly, "If she was, then do you think I would be asking where she was?"

"She's probably out walking around," Usopp cut in. He had a grin on his face. It was like he wasn't even trying to take her concerns seriously. "This is a new place. She probably went to explore it."

If Nami hadn't been thinking about Artemisia's well-being so much, she probably would have hit Usopp upside the head. Did none of them see the gravity of the situation? How were they not more worried? Nami forced a smile on her face. Her teeth were gritted, and you could tell even as she spoke, "Exactly. We're in a new place with people we don't know. Did none of you see how creepy those guys were toward her yesterday? Who knows the kind of stuff they want to do with her?"

After she said that, it was like something clicked in everyone. The smile fell off Usopp's face; Zoro was sitting up on the couch; Sanji had placed the towel on the kitchen counter, and whatever meal he had planned was now forgotten; Luffy was even starting to look serious. There was a look in his eye that always showed up when he was worrying for his friend. And like he usually did in these situations, he took charge, "Let's go find out what happened to Artemisia."

No time was wasted. The group rushed out of the house to try and get to the bottom of what was happening. Luffy had the idea of beating up everyone in town to find out where Artemisia was. Nami managed to talk him down to just finding Elias and asking him. The village head would likely know more about what goes on in his village. The first place they would need to check would be his house.

To their surprise, they wound up running into the man for yesterday, Maxwell. The man grinned at them and went to greet them. Before he could get the words out, Nami asked, "What did you do to Artemisia?" There was no lead-up to the question. No interrogation. Nothing. She went for the kill almost immediately.

There was a moment of silence between them. Maxwell looked at the group in confusion. Nami took this as he either didn't know what they were talking about or was trying to play like he didn't know. Suddenly, a look of realization passed over his face. He laughed, "There's no need to worry. Your friend is fine! She's just getting ready for the feast. The guest of honor needs to look fantastic if we're going to show her off."

Hearing this made Nami relax. She wasn't entirely sure if this guy was telling the truth. He looked like he was being truthful. He didn't show any signs of lying. Nami liked to pride herself in being able to read people. People had tells that showed if they were lying. She didn't see any of the obvious signs of lying. This meant he was telling the truth or had a less obvious tell. She chose to take him for his word at the moment, but if there were anything off, she would take matters into her own hands.

The others looked quite relieved as well. They no longer had to worry for their friend. At least for the moment. They didn't even think to check to see if she was in her and Nami's room. They didn't see her when they woke up, so they assumed. Next time, they should look to ensure that nothing like this happens again.

"But we need to leave the Island," Nami reminded him. "Eventually."

A smile was present on Maxwell's face. He held up his index finger matter-of-factly, "The storm is still quite bad. It would be best if you continue waiting it out." He was, unfortunately, right. The storm was still pretty bad. It looked the same as when they first arrived on the island. In the distance, you could see lightning and rain crashing onto rough waves. It would be a little longer before they could leave.

One of the group's faces scrunched up in question. There was one question that Usopp couldn't answer, "Um..," The sudden voice made everyone stop. They turned to him, waiting to see what he had to say. "Why is Artemisia the guest of honor?"

***

It was a long day... And the day wasn't even over yet. Artemisia wasn't even close to being ready yet, according to the group of women. They had to finish her hair, and they also needed to pick out her outfit for the feast. Fortunately, the women decided to leave her alone for the time being. They were pretty tired from doing all the work dolling her up, something Artemisia was not used to in the slightest.

The girl was always used to throwing on whatever she found first. She never put much thought into her appearance. She always let her hair do its own thing and rarely put on any makeup. If she did put on makeup, then it was barely any. You would barely be able to tell she was wearing it unless you looked closely or she pointed it out to you. So, when the group of women were coming at her with their hair products and makeup products, she had no idea what to do. She opted to sit still until they left her alone.

While it felt like it took forever, it probably only took an hour and a half to do everything they did. They still had some things to do from what it seems. Artemisia huffed as she sat in the chair in front of the mirror. She wasn't used to seeing herself like this. In a nice robe, makeup caked on her face, hair put in rollers. It was new to her... And her nose itched. Really bad. She could only hope that she could get out of all this soon.

The door opening caught Artemisia's attention. She froze, worried that the women had come back to do their worst. Instead, when she turned her head, she saw Elias walking into the room. He smiled as his eyes set on her, "I see that they've already started."

All the unanswered questions came out at once, "What's this feast for? Why am I the guest of honor? Why does everyone look at me weird? Better yet, why do they act so weird around me-" Laughing made Artemisia stop in her barrage of questions. She raised an eyebrow at Elias as his eyes scrunched with his laughter, and his smile got even bigger. Did he really think her confusion was that funny? She wanted answers! She didn't want to be laughed at!

Noticing the expression on her face, Elias ceased his laughing. A few chuckles continued to escape from him, but he covered it up with a cough. He straightened his posture and spoke to her with a polite grin, "You'll have to forgive us. We didn't mean to come across as rude," It was not rude they were coming off as. Creepy was the best descriptor.  "It's been a while since we've had children in our village."

Oh, that's right. She didn't see many children. All the ones she'd seen, she could easily count out on her hands. It was strange, especially with the amount of young adults that she'd seen in the village. Artemisia leaned forward with interest, "Why aren't there more children?" Back in her own village, there weren't a lot of children. Although they still had quite a bit. Much more than she'd seen during her short time here.

A pained expression crossed Elias' face. Artemisia felt a little bad for asking. Judging by his look, it wasn't a good explanation he had for her. Artemisia came to the conclusion that whatever happened, it must've been bad. There was a moment of hesitation from Elias. It was like he was trying to gather his bearings before he spoke more on the topic. Eventually, he did speak, "It was a sickness. We don't know where exactly it came from. For some reason, it only affected the children. It was the greatest tragedy our village has ever had to face."

There was something about his explanation that put Artemisia off. How could a disease only affect children? Okay, maybe there was a disease out there that only affected children. But she wasn't sure there was a contagious illness that only children could get. Artemisia took a deep breath before she opened her mouth, "What-"

Once again, Artemisia was cut off. This time, instead of laughter, Elias was talking, "It's also because of your mother," The mention of her mother made her interested, more than previously. She recalled last night when they first met Elias. More specifically, she remembered how he said her mother was from this village. As if hearing her thoughts, he smiled, "She was quite the influential figure. Everyone loved Polymnia-"

"Whoa, hold on," Artemisia cut him off this time. A puzzled look was plastered on her face. What did he just say? Polymnia? That wasn't her mother's name. "My mother's name is Philippa, not Polymnia. I think you might have the wrong person."

His face told a different story. At first, he looked just as confused as she did. Then, his confusion turned into distaste, but only for a moment. The moment it showed, it disappeared. Elias continued to smile, though it came across as more forced, "She must've changed her name. You look too much like her when she was young for me to have the wrong person," Artemisia took note of his forced smile. She remained quiet with her thoughts on it, wanting to see if she could find out more information before making any assumptions. "But your mother was a very big figure in our village."

Those were words he said a lot. He said that her mother was influential and now he was saying she was a big figure. When he spoke about her, she sounded like she was a child when she lived here. How could a child be a significant person in their town? Children did have a sway in the politics of a governmental system, but, he would be talking about all children in that case. He was specifically talking about her mother.

"What was she-"

"Ah!" A look of realization passed over his face. "I have someone for you to meet," He changed the topic of conversation. What did he not want her to know? Elias' smile was much more genuine now, "At the feast, there will be some traditions you'll have to do. It's customary for children to do so. Usually, they're much younger when they do the traditions, but with your circumstances, we're doing it now," Elias turned his attention to the door. "You can come in!"

"Who can come in?" Artemisia inquired.

A woman walked into the room. The first thing that Artemisia noticed was the air of strictness and diplomacy surrounding the woman. She stood with her back perfectly straight. Her arms were by her side, and she kept perfect eye contact with Artemisia. She would be lying if she said it didn't intimidate her slightly. The woman had curly brown hair and tan skin, and her eyes were light brown, maybe even a hazel color.

"This is Leandra," Elias introduced her. The woman, Leandra, did a small curtsy toward Artemisia. Artemisia raised an eyebrow at this. "She was your mother's caretaker back in the day," Elias focused back onto Artemisia, "She'll be helping to teach you the traditions of our village, along with anything else you might need help with," Artemisia nodded slowly, trying her best to avoid the piercing stare of Leandra. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things to attend to," Elias locked eyes with Leandra, who finally broke her gaze away from Artemisia. "I expect you to take good care of her," He headed toward the door. Before he could finally leave, he cast one more glance toward Artemisia, "I wish you luck." He walked out of the room.

For the first time, Artemisia felt like she wanted to beg him to stay. This woman was intimidating, much more intimidating than Axel when he found out that she messed up yet again. Leandra was drilling holes into Artemisia to the point that the brunette swore she could feel it. Leandra's voice was cold, "Sit as you would at a dinner table," She spoke with an accent. It was an accent that Artemisia could sometimes hear slip out when her mother spoke. Artemisia did as she asked. Leandra looked disgusted, "I have a lot of work cut out for me."

Artemisia felt a little offended.

~~~

Hey, guys! I feel a lot more confident when writing this chapter. I felt like the characterization of the One Piece characters was a lot better in this one. What do you think? Do you have any thoughts about the chapter itself? Let me know! Next chapter is going to be fucking wild 👀. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!