"'𝓒𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓘 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓲𝓽 𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼. 𝓨𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓭𝓻𝓪𝓰 𝓶𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽, 𝓯𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓮𝓼𝓼."

***

For what was supposed to be seasoned pirates, they were pretty easy to take down. All Artemisia, Nami, and Zoro did was sneak up behind them and knock them out. It was as simple as it sounded. The three fought off whoever got in their way as they rushed back to the main stage. Artemisia was worried about whatever they were going to see. From how it sounded before, Luffy was in trouble, maybe a lot more trouble than they were in... Which is saying a lot since Artemisia was literally in a contraption from hell.

Once they were close to the main stage, the three split up. What they saw was not what they were expecting. Artemisia was expecting something really bad. Like, never come back from Bad. Instead, she saw Luffy floating in a glass tank of water almost filled to the top. Sure, the situation wasn't good, but she had a feeling that it was much better than almost getting cut in half. The worst part about Luffy's situation was the clown taunting him from outside the tank. That was the last thing that Artemisia wanted to experience. Listening to Buggy talk and talk and talk and not being able to escape from it.

Thankfully, they had a plan. Nami would approach first and break Luffy out of the tank. Zoro and Artemisia would approach last, standing by in case anyone tried to attack or anything else happened. It was working quite well already. Artemisia could see Nami getting closer and closer to the ring that separated the audience from the stage. Luck was not on their side, it seems. Nami wasn't able to progress any further.

A certain boy trapped in a water tank looked directly in the direction of Nami. He tapped on the class, showing that he saw the girl. This caught the attention of Buggy. The clown went to turn around. Nami had to take her chance. Nami quickly threw her staff toward the glass tank. The staff hit the glass, and the tank cracked. The staff came hurling back to Nami, and she grabbed it once it was close enough, spinning in once it was in her grasp.

The cracks started to get bigger and bigger in the glass of the tank. Buggy looked around but didn't find what, or whom, he was looking for, "Where are my freaks?"

That was the moment. The entrance. Zoro stepped out first from one side of the tent, "They're not coming." He wielded two swords in each hand. he stood very menacingly as the light slowly shone on his face as he stepped closer and closed.

From the alternate side, Artemisia also stepped into the light, "Let's say they're..," Artemisia shrugged. "A little tied up at the moment. They won't be coming to this show." And that wasn't a lie. Whoever attacked them, or vice versa, was tied up as soon as they were incapacitated. They were lucky enough to find some rope lying around. This was supposed to be a circus, though. There was no surprise they would have rope somewhere.

The tank finally broke. Gasps emerged from the audience as water spilled out of the tank. Luffy was freed from his water prison. Seeing this, Buggy tried to get out of the way. He wasn't fast enough. The water from the tank knocked him on his back. Luffy coughed up water. A grimace appeared on Artemisia's face as the map, the very same map to the Grand Line, was coughed up as well.

There was someone else who noticed the map as well. A certain clown. Buggy's eyes locked onto the container that held the map inside, "My map!"

Meanwhile, Luffy was focused on something else entirely, "My hat."

That's right. His hat. Artemisia was a little surprised to see that he didn't already have it on. She guessed that Buggy had something to do with that. Both clown and pirate crawled their way toward their favored object, holding them tightly once grabbed. Buggy stood while Luffy remained on the ground. A laugh came from Buggy. Something about it sent shivers down Artemisia's back. She, Nami, and Zoro approached cautiously, preparing for the worst.

With the way Buggy was looking at them, they were worried that the worst was exactly what they were going to get. A crazed look was in his eyes and a wide grin was spread across Buggy's face as he twirled the map, "You want a piece of me? Let's see what you got," Zoro was the first to attack. He swung his sword at Buggy's neck. Artemisia's jaw dropped when she saw Buggy's head float above his body. She shot a surprised look at Nami, who looked just as shocked as she did. Zoro tried not to let the shock get to him. He swung once again, this time at Buggy's torse. The same exact thing happened. Swing after swing, Buggy would somehow break his body into more pieces in order to dodge the cuts. Buggy laughed at the failed attempts, "Surprise, shithead!"

None of them knew what to do. Nami, Artemisia, and Zoro joined together as they faced Buggy. The clown broke his body into different pieces. Those pieces floated around them in a circle as more laughing filled their ears. The three stood back-to-back-to-back, waiting for the pieces to attack them in some way. Artemisia was watching the whole scene in front of her with surprise. How were you supposed to deal with a situation like this?

She wasn't the only one with this question. Zoro asked the same thing to the two girls, "How do I slice a guy who's already in pieces?"

"This is not part of the plan." Nami looked over her shoulder to glance at Zoro before focusing back on the pieces of Buggy's body that floated around them.

Well, it's safe to say that they could forget about the plan now. No way was the plan ever going to consider something like this happening. Artemisia had no answer to give to Zoro's question, she was just as lost as he was, "Just do the best you can." That ended up being the best advice she could come up with.

And they took that advice to heart. Nami and Zoro swung their weapons aimlessly, trying to hit whatever pieces came near them. All of this was for nothing. Artemisia tried to shoot at some of the pieces flying around. This didn't work either. As soon as an arrow would get close to hitting, the pieces would break into even more pieces. Nami and Zoro only succeeded in throwing the pieces around and almost taking each other down in the process.

Eventually, Zoro was backed up against the unbroken side of the tank. He was pushed back, along with the tank. Nami was being relentlessly attacked as well. Artemisia was met with a random knee to the chest. All three were completely pushed out of the circle by the pieces of Buggy's body. Artemisia coughed as she landed on her back hard. With the three of them down, Buggy put his body back together.

The clown turned to Luffy, who was now standing on his feet, "Ah. Would you look at that?" Buggy twirled his finger at Luffy, taking short steps toward him. "Somebody escaped my Tank of Doom," Luffy only watched him. He took no move to attack and didn't respond. Artemisia didn't blame him. How could you fight against that? "Well, I'll be back to finish you off. Right after I tear apart your sad excuse for a crew." Buggy chuckled.

This made Artemisia try her best to scramble to her feet. She groaned as she clumsily stood on her feet, "That was not fun." She looked around to see Zoro and Nami getting back up. It's good to see that they were okay enough to bounce back. Now, they just needed a plan.

A look of determination grew onto Luffy's face, "You can dump seawater on me," His voice showed just as much determination. There was also a hint of anger in his eyes. Something that you rarely ever saw in the boy. "And I'll let it slide," Luffy placed his hat back on his head, "But don't you ever threaten my friends." He reeled his arm back and stretched it out to punch Buggy in the stomach.

Like with the previous attacks on the annoying clown, this was only in vain. A hole emerged in Buggy's stomach, making Luffy's first go through it. Luffy's arm retracted, and the hole was plugged back up right after. Buggy clicked his tongue at him, pulling out his knives, "So you want to die first? Be my guest," One leg and arm came off Buggy's body. Soon enough, the others do, too. the legs and arms break into smaller pieces. Those pieces swirled around and made circles on either side of Buggy, "Chop-Chop Cannon!"

All the pieces go flying at Luffy. Luffy dodged the pieces coming at him, kicking one of them out of the way. Luffy landed on top of Buggy's torso and held him down. One of the pieces pushed him off of Buggy. The clown laughed. Luffy wasted no time in getting back up. Buggy motioned with his head and one of the hands with knives gly toward Luffy. The knives go straight for Luffy's head, lodging it into the wood pillar behind the boy.

The sight made Buggy laugh. The hand pulled the knife out and flew back. Luffy ran quickly over to his hat. His eyes were wide in fear. He was stopped when a piece of Buggy's body hit him in the stomach. The dark-haired boy was knocked off his feet by another piece, and a different one held him down by dripping onto his throat. Luffy struggled as he looked around to find something to help.

All the other three could do was watch. No matter what they did before, nothing worked. It felt hopeless. That was until Luffy finally found something to help, "Nami! The crates!"

There was a bit of confusion at first. Nami looked over at the crates he mentioned, and so did Artemisia. After a moment, both girls seemed to understand what he meant. Luffy was pulled up to his feet, and Nami joined him back in the ring. Luffy managed to pry the arm off his neck and threw it in Nami's direction. Buggy only watched as Nami hit the arm with her staff. The arm flew into one of the crates.

The force of the arm hitting the crate made it close and lock. Nami ran over to the rest of the crates as more pieces flew around. Luffy threw the pieces at Zoro, who stabbed them with his swords and kept them stuck in the ground. Buggy cursed, and pieces went flying at Zoro. Luffy threw a piece to Artemisia. Artemisia lined up her shot and let the arrow fly.

Unlike before, the arrow hit. Buggy was so distracted by their plan that he could no longer pay attention to all the pieces anymore. The arrow embedded the piece into one of the pillars. Artemisia ran over and grabbed the pieces. She took the arrow out, shoved the piece into a nearby crate, and closed it. She sat down on top of the crate for good measure, crossing her legs with a relieved smile. The piece hit the top of the crate but was unsuccessful in escaping.

One after another, all the pieces were being stored away in whatever containers they could find. Crates, boxes, barrels, everything with a lid. In the process, Luffy picked up his hat. Eventually, all that was left of Buggy was his head, his hands, and his feet, which all fell to the floor. He put them together to create a tiny version of him, "What have you done to me?"

A grin showed itself proudly on Luffy's face, "Cut you down to size."

Laughter came from Artemisia. Buggy growled at her, which made her laugh even more. Through the laughter, she managed to say, "I have to say, I like this version of you better." She hated to say it, but it was definitely a cuter version of him, like a small kitten.

The miniature clown tried his best to point at Luffy, "The One Piece will never be yours," He had to strain himself to actually point at the dark-haired boy. It was making the whole situation a lot more entertaining. Seeing that he wasn't coming across as intimidating anymore, Buggy tried to go for a different approach, "You're just a sad, lonely little boy wearing another man's hat!"

The new approach didn't work. Luffy didn't seem to be affected by the words. Luffy stared down at his hat for a moment, "I know exactly who I am," He placed the hat on his head, a sight that Artemisia preferred a lot more. It wasn't natural seeing him without his hat. "I am Monkey D. Luffy. And I'm gonna be King of the Pirates," He extended his arm far behind him, "Gum Gum..," Buggy started to freak out. He yelled and shouted at him to stop. Luffy raised an eyebrow at him, though he didn't stop. He only continued, "Bazooka!"

Luffy's arms went flying forward. They hit Buggy's tiny body, and the clown flew into the air. A hole ripped in the tent's roof from the clown's body going through it. Buggy's scream sounded farther and farther away until it was no longer audible. Luffy grabbed the map that Buggy dropped and met the others in the middle of the ring. Nami was surprised when Luffy handed the map out to her.

Still, she took it from him, "You're giving this to me?" Artemisia understood why she was surprised. After the stunt she pulled earlier, she probably expected Luffy to act cold toward her. She was probably even waiting for him to kick her out of the crew. It was no surprise to see why she was so shocked.

For some reason, Luffy happened to be one of the most understanding people that any of them had ever met, "You're the navigator." He gave her a nod. Nami looked down at the map with a small bit of surprise showing on her face.

"Let's get out of this clown show," Zoro stated.

"Say no more," Artemisia responded.

The two went to leave. Before they could make any real progress, they were stopped. Luffy placed his hands on their shoulders. Both of them looked at him with confusion. He pointedly looked at them, "Still one more thing we have to do." He hit their shoulders.

Everyone watched as Luffy went over to one of the nails that had chains running from it. Artemisia had almost forgotten about the prisoners. She was so wrapped up in everything that she didn't even think about them. Luffy took out the nail so the chains would come loose. The lights in the circus tent came on, and Luffy walked over to an older man. He bent down and started to remove the chains.

The man seemed a little surprised by the sight, "Are you our new captors?"

"What?" Luffy inquired.

"Well," The man pointed at him, "You're a pirate, aren't you?"

The statement made Luffy stand. Nami came over to help with the chains, and Artemisia joined her soon after. Luffy grinned at the older man. His hands were firmly on his hips as he spoke in a nonchalant tone, "I'm a different kind of pirate." And that was the truth.

A truth that always seemed to puzzle Nami. The orange-haired girl stared at the boy in surprise even now. Zoro also joined the other sin helping to free the villagers. It wasn't long until everyone was free. When they were, they helped the four prepare to head back out to sea. They tried to give them supplies, but Luffy only denied them.

The older man from before insisted on giving them a crate of food, "We don't have much, but please, take this as a token of our... Of our gratitude."

"You need it more than we do," Luffy continued to deny his gift. No one could miss the longing look he cast at the food. The four headed back to the boat, getting ready to head back out to sea once more. Once Luffy was halfway across the dock, he stopped. He turned back around to face the villagers, "Well..," He quickly ran back to the group, "Maybe just a snack."

Taking a single piece of bread, he bit into it. Artemisia rolled her eyes, though a grin was on her face. Luffy smiled and laughed, shoving the rest of the bread into his mouth. He nodded at the villagers again and ran back to the boat. The villagers gave their farewells, waving, and thanking the group. The crew lifted their sails, and, soon enough, the ship set its course. Luffy waved back to the villagers as they got further and further away from the island.

Artemisia felt like she could relax now that they were no longer in a life-or-death situation. The only bad thing about it was that she found herself thinking even more about Nami's former betrayal. She pushed those feelings down since she felt feeling that way was no longer rational. She helped them out in the end, everything should be fine now. Nami was even helping to repair Luffy's hat at this very moment.

The boy was watching her intently as she carefully worked with it. Feeling the intense stare, Nami spoke up, "Almost finished." She needed to say something to subdue him for a little longer. Soon after she said that, the hat was completely repaired. She handed it back to him with a smile.

A smile was on Luffy's face as well, "You fixed it," He stared at the hat for a moment, most likely trying to see if she missed any spots. Once he was satisfied with the results, he turned his attention back to Nami, "Thanks."

"Well, you said it was your treasure, right?" Nami inquired.

The two grinned at each other. Their stare was broken when Nami got up and walked across the boat. Zoro, leaning up against the cabin wall, spoke next, "Is every day gonna be this crazy with you?" His eyes were closed as he asked the question.

Placing the hat back on his head, Luffy turned to Zoor. He stood up so he could sit closer to the swordsman, "Shanks always said..," And there was that name again. Artemisia recalled that he mentioned Shanks when they were stuck in that wooden cage. She found herself wondering just who this Shanks person was. "That if the path to what you want seems too easy... Then you're on the wrong path."

"I think that's the deepest thing I've ever heard you say," Artemisia commented.

There was a moment of thought for Zoro. He opened his eyes during that time. Eventually, he said something in response to Luffy's words, "This Shanks guy sounds all right."

A moment of silence fell among them. Luffy eventually jumped to his feet and walked to the end of the ship. He looked out at the horizon and talked with a loud, booming voice, "Next stop," He pointed ahead of them, "The Grand Line!"

That was still gonna take a while. Still, Artemisia smiled. She looked around at the sights and noticed that Nami wasn't with them. She ended up seeing a glimpse of her in the window of the cabin door. Artemisia shot a look of interest in the direction of the girl but chose to say and do nothing. She probably just needed a moment to herself. For now, she would give it to her. That was something that they all needed.

***

And it was something that Artemisia ended up needing that very night. After the events of the day, they sparked something in her. The something that caused her nightmares of events that she'd rather not remember. One of these nightmares woke her up in the dead of the night. She tried to go back to sleep but found it almost impossible. Every time she would get close to falling asleep, she would remember the dream. That's all it took for her to remain wide awake.

Soon enough, the cabin started to feel stuffy. It was like the walls were closing in on her. She needed a break. She needed air. So, Artemisia walked out of the cabin and out onto the deck, trying to be as quiet as possible. She closed the door behind her and walked to sit down on one of the many crates on the deck. Then, she stared out at the sea.

A lot of people have mixed feelings about the sea at night. Some people thought it was terrifying. The sky was completely black; no light shined down on the waves which made the waves black. It felt like you were staring out at an endless abyss with no idea of where you were going or what was waiting for you. Artemisia understood those people. She had the same thoughts when she was younger.

Then, there were other people. People who thought the sea at night was absolutely beautiful. While there were no bright lights, the stars were still there. They still shined up in the night sky. These people believed you could easily find your way even in the dark sea by looking up at the bright stars. Artemisia did not come to this realization herself. Only by people telling her of this was she made aware. Eventually, she became more in love with the night sea.

If you thought about it, the sea was such a diverse thing. It was beautiful but scary. It had sights that would make your jaw drop from awe or fear. The creatures could be amazingly stunning, or they could be horribly terrifying. There was no in-between with the sea. It was what it was. Multifaceted. It was never one thing. It was so many things and that's what made it amazing. It reminded Artemisia of someone else.

"Can't sleep," Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. The brunette turned to see Nami standing a few feet away from her. She wondered how long she'd been standing there. Judging from the slight bed hair, she would say that it wasn't long. Artemisia shook her head in response to the question. Nami nodded to herself, "Me too." Slowly, Nami approached the girl and joined her, sitting down near her. It was almost like she was trying to approach a wounded animal. It was obvious to both of them as to why.

There was silence between them. Both of them wanted to talk about it. If there were a bunch of elephants in a room, it would be the biggest. The one that everyone focused on but wanted to avoid because of how intimidating it seemed. It was driving both of them crazy. Nami wanted to talk about it but didn't know how. Artemisia wanted to talk about it but didn't want to assume the wrong thing. Eventually, this came out as both of them spoke at once.

"I just wanted-"

"I know that-"

They stopped. They stared into each other's eyes and waited for the other to continue speaking. Neither did. Artemisia decided to take a step back from speaking. She motioned for Nami to continue what she wanted to say. Nami nodded in thanks to her. Another moment of silence fell among them as Nami got her thoughts in order.

A deep breath escaped the orange-haired girl, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry... About trying to leave you guys," And the elephant was recognized. It was now up to them to handle the situation correctly. "It was a bad move to leave without you. I should've come up with a plan to get all of us out of there instead of focusing only on myself."

It was obvious to Artemisia that Nami didn't apologize a lot. She assumed that the girl rarely ever apologized to anyone for anything. It made her all the more grateful to hear her say those words of apology. A small smile appeared on Artemisia's face, "Thank you for saying that..," Artemisia inhaled deeply. "And I'm sorry," Confusion took over Nami's features. "I was being a little overdramatic when I called you a coward. It came from a place of hurt, and I wasn't thinking clearly."

Nami shook her head, "It's fine," Thoughts ran through her head as she thought about Artemisia's words. She finally decided to ask about it, "Is there something about betrayal that upsets you? You were a lot more upset than the others about it." She also recalled Artemisia's words. It was after she called her (Nami) a coward. She said that Nami was a coward like "them."

As if Artemisia was expecting this question, she shifted in her spot on the crate. Nami took notice of this. She didn't revoke her question, though. Some people would if they saw that kind of reaction. Nami was too curious to back down from the question. Artemisia could tell this as well. There was a different kind of interest sparked in Nami's eyes. One that showed that she wanted some kind of answer.

There was a moment in Artemisia where she debated avoiding the topic or not. It was a sensitive one. She didn't even like talking about it after the events happened. But, she felt like she had to say something. She didn't know why. She just felt like she had to tell someone. The someone she was telling just so happened to be Nami, "I was betrayed before. Twice, actually," Understanding flashed across Nami's face. "There was a man on my mom's crew. He was basically my mom's brother, even though they weren't related. I called him my uncle. But, for some reason, he worked with the military to set up a trap for my mom's crew. No one knew why he did it. But everyone was hurt." Artemisia especially. She wasn't there when the setup happened, but her mother told her about it. She couldn't believe it at first.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," Artemisia smiled, though it wasn't entirely genuine. "You didn't do it. The next one was... My girlfriend," A certain feeling hit Nami in the chest. She said nothing. "Well, not exactly my girlfriend. I was never entirely sure what we were. But she basically led me on so she could report everything about my village and about my antics to her Marine general father," Neither of them said anything. Artemisia was waiting for Nami to say something first. Nami didn't know what to say. When Artemisia noticed that, she continued, "So, as you can see, I get a little sensitive toward this kind of thing... But, let's move on. We've made up, and everything is fine now."

An uncomfortable smile made its way onto Nami's face, "Yeah. Everything is great."

A yawn escaped Artemisia, "Now," She stood up, "I'm going to go to bed. Talking has finally tired me out," She made her way to the door of the cabin. Before she opened the door or walked inside, she stopped and crossed her fingers, "Here's to hoping that Zoro doesn't almost cut my throat again." Artemisia slowly opened the door and waited for a moment before walking inside, closing the door behind her.

If she had stayed any longer, she would've seen Nami's expression. Maybe, if she'd seen it, things could've turned out differently. But, she hadn't seen it. Everything was going to happen how fate intended. Whether that be for the better or for the worse.

~~~ 

Hey, guys! What do you think of the chapter? I just came here to tell you that I made a TikTok account for this fanfic account! I am posting fanfic edits of my stories there, and I've already posted a few for this story. You guys should totally check it out if you want! It's called snowkat2003_. I hope you guys liked this chapter! I made it a little angsty at the end 😈.