42~ The City of Green

Mira

After we said a few more rounds of cheers, we dispersed to do our own things. Sanji promised tea and snacks and headed for the kitchen. I decided to go on a scavenger hunt for Herman. I haven't seen my little buddy for a while. I need to tell him what's been going on so far.

I first checked the kitchen, since that seems to be his favorite place. I searched high and low for him, softly calling out his name once in a while. I stood in the pantry after a while of looking. No luck.

"You doing okay, Mira?" Sanji asked as he rolled a rice ball.

"I can't find Herman," I placed my hands on my hips. If I was a smart hermit crab, where would I be?

"Herman? Oh, the hermit crab. I think I saw him leave the kitchen when I entered."

"Thanks, Sanji." I waved to him and headed out. I first checked my room, then the others. Nothing. Slowly, I made my way upstairs, making sure I checked every possible hiding spot.

"Where the hell is he?" I scratched my head. "He couldn't have gotten far. He's just a small crab with every possible place to be..." I hung my head. He could be anywhere.

I opened a door and found Vivi over a map. "Hey, have you seen Herman anywhere?"

She looked up. "Hm? No, can't say I have."

I sighed. "Okay, thanks anyway." And so my search continues.

After another half hour of searching the ship, Sanji called me for tea. Reluctantly, I headed up. I tapped the side of my cup in thought, while Luffy and Usopp played with their food.

"Look! It's me! Captain Rice Ball Usopp!" Usopp had his pinky finger sticking through one of the rice balls. "Oh? And who are you?" He made the rice ball walk up to an even bigger one.

"I'm a riceman!" Luffy held up a snowman made of rice. Why did Sanji let him have so much rice?

Oh, never mind. Both of them just got whacked with frying pans by an irritated Sanji. "Quit playing with your food! If you've got time to play around, go wash dishes!" Ace chuckled beside me as he watched it all play out. "I've got to finish making our meals before we cross the river!"

"Need a hand?" Ace asked as he started to get up.

Sanji was soon all smiles. "No, no. You are a guest on board. Just sit back and relax."

"Alright," He sat back down and shook his head. He looked over to me a bit. "You okay?"

"I can't find Herman," I mumbled as i swirled my tea.

"Herman?" He looked up in thought. "I don't remember Luffy mentioning a Herman in his crew. Who is he?"

"Our mascot," I set my cup aside. "He's an Island hermit crab."

"Oh, those are hard to come by," He sipped his tea. "Where did you pick him up from?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. We think we picked him up from either Usopp's or Nami's home island. He was just there one day when we were doing some cleaning. So, I named him and he became my best buddy. Now I can't find him."

"Those guys are supposed to be loyal to their person." He scratched his chin. "He couldn't have gone far."

"What the- stupid crab!" My head snapped up. "You're gonna freeze in there! How the hell did you even get inside?!"

"Herman!" I leaped up from my seat and rushed to the freezer. "What're you doing in there?! You scared me! I thought you were gone!" He shivered in my hands and saluted me.

I pointed a finger at him. "Don't do that again. Oh! Now that I found you, I can tell you what's been going on lately." I brought him back to the table and introduced him to Ace.

"Aw, he's still a baby." He poked at Herman. "Still got a long way until he's grown up."

"Yeah, he does." Herman playfully snipped at Ace's fingers as tiny sparks danced off his fingers. "I just wanna know why he was in the freezer."

"Well, think about it," I met Ace's gaze. "We're in the desert. Most hermit crabs will spend a good portion of their life under water where it's cool. He's not used to being in this heat, much like your little reindeer."

"That is true," I tapped my chin. "I need to get him a small tank or something. That way I'll know he's safe if I have to go somewhere."

"Just don't keep him cooped up too much," I met his gaze again. "They grow depending on how much space they have."

"How do you know so much?" I asked.

He went to respond, but what cut off by Nami. "Hey, guys! Prepare to stop the ship! Vivi needs to stop for a moment!"

"I'll get that information from you, whether you like it or not." He just laughed as we stood from the table. Ace, Zoro, and I stood on the deck, Herman in my hands. The others stood on the ground. Vivi was standing in front of Karoo, a piece of paper in her hands.

"Karoo, I want you to go to Alubarna Palace on your own and deliver this message to my father." He squawked at her, confused. "I've written down everything Igaram and I learned about Crocodile and Baroque Work's schemes. And that I've returned to Alalbasta alive and with supportive friends."

He shook in place as what she said sunk in. "Can you do it? You'll have to cross the desert alone." He quacked and saluted her. She smiled and placed the note in his small bag. "Listen, you have to drink your water with care in the desert."

"Karoo, good luck!" Luffy called out to him as he started to leave.

"Let my father know the kingdom can be saved!" Vivi waved as her faithful duck started on. He stopped a few meters away, then started off again.

"Drink your water with care!" She shouted after him. Before I knew it, he was out of sight. That duck sure is fast.

"I knew Crocodile was in this country," Ace leaned away from the railing. "But a pirate trying to steal a kingdom? That sounds like a bad joke. A pirate dropping down anchor and settling in one spot? Don't tell me he's trying to take over the throne."

"Well, kinda, yeah..." I traced a finger over Herman.

"Let's set sail!" Luffy called down from below as he climbed back on board.

"Hold on! I'm not on board!"

"Ah, just leave him," I smiled as Usopp tried to get on.

"Be nice, Mira!"

"There could be another side to this whole takeover thing," I focused back to Ace as he started to walk off.

"Another side?" Zoro questioned him.

"Some sort of deeper goal..." He didn't give much of an explanation after that. Zoro and I glanced at each other, trying to figure out what he could have meant. We agreed to talk more about it later and prepared to set sail once more.

"Oh, Mira," I stopped and faced Vivi. "I see you've found Herman. Where was he?"

I rolled my eyes. "This little stinker managed to get stuck in the freezer. He was probably hot."

"The freezer?!" She gasped. "He could have froze to death! Is he okay?"

"Seems to be," I checked him over. "No complaints, right?" He shook his head. "Then he's all good."

She sighed. "That's a relief. So long as he's okay, then everything should be fine."

I smiled. "Yeah,"

"Vivi! I see land!" Nami suddenly called out. "Isn't this where you wanted to dock the ship?"

"Yeah! Right here is perfect!" I handed her Herman so I could help the others pull the ship in.

"Woo-hoo!" Luffy suddenly cried out. "We're finally going to the desert! I wonder what it'll be like!"

"I bet it'll be hot!" Chopper said excitedly as we pulled in closer to the shore.

"It gets over 50 C (122 F) during the day time," Vivi explained.

"What?! It does?!" He flinched and slouched down a bit, no longer excited.

"Mira, put this on," Nami handed me a long coat with a deep hood. "The sun is very harsh here."

"Oh, thank you." I took off some extra accessories I didn't need and slipped the coat on.

"Nami-san, what happened?!" Sanji suddenly shouted from below. "Where did your dancer outfit go?! AH! Not you, too, Vivi-chan! Oh, don't tell me that- Mira, why?! Why are you dressed like that?!"

"In the desert, any exposed skin will wind up terribly sunburned." Vivi explained sympathetically.

Sanji collapsed to the deck. "This is terrible... my dancer girls..." He began rolling on the deck, wallowing in his own depression. I rolled my eyes as Vivi passed out extra clothes for everyone.

Arms suddenly snaked around me. "He better be keeping his eyes off one of the girls."

I giggled. "Oh, stop. You already stopped him from looking too much earlier."

"Still,"

"Let's get ready to disembark," Ace stated as he gathered his things.

I found Herman on the railing and gently pulled myself from Zoro. "I'll be right there. Tell them I'll be a couple minutes." I kissed his cheek and went to put Herman somewhere safe.

I picked him up and took him into the kitchen. "Now Herman, it's going to be really hot. So, I've decided to make a small ice bath for you. I'll fill some water up in this bowl with ice and you can lounge in it when you get too hot."

As I prepared his ice bath, I thought about something I had read. "You know, the desert can also get really cold. You might need somewhere warm to go..."

"Mira! You coming?"

"I'll be right there!" I called back to Nami. "Think, Mira... Oh! Sanji shouldn't mind if you use one of his napkins." I folded one into a little bed and set them both in the shade.

"We'll be right back." I gave his head a pat and rushed off to join the others.

I was not expecting to see an army of turtle seal creatures blocking our path to shore.

"What... are those things?"

"Are they seals?" Nami blinked a couple times.

"No, I think they're turtles," Luffy picked at his nose.

Vivi gasped. "Kung Fu Dugongs!"

"I'm guessing that's a bad thing,"

"Very bad!"

"If you wanna come ashore, you'll have to beat me first! Or else you go back to the other shore, cowards!" Chopper suddenly said.

"Um, you're on the ship, Chopper." I glanced down to him.

"That's what he said," He looked up to me.

"Oh, that's right!" I chuckled, embarrassed. "I forgot you can understand other animals,"

"Heh!" Usopp smirked and placed his foot on the railing. "I can't sit quietly by when someone calls me a coward! Let's do it!" He jumped off.

"Usopp, wait!" Vivi called after him, but it was too late. Not even two seconds later, he was on the ground, twitching. The dugongs stood triumphantly over him.

"That's the fastest I've ever seen him jump into action first." I clapped for him. "Way to take one for the team, Usopp!"

He held up a shaky thumb. "Thanks for the sarcastic enthusiasm, Mira..."

"I'm winning over here!" Luffy suddenly called out. When did he get off the ship?

"Winning is bad, too!" Vivi seems to be a bit late in warning people lately.

The dugong Luffy beat up suddenly stood and bowed to him. His eyes sparkled as he met Luffy's eyes.

"It's a Kung Fu Dugong rule," She sighed heavily. "If someone loses, they become the winner's pupil."

"That's very martial arts-ish," Zoro nodded a bit and crossed his arms.

Soon, the entire squad of dugongs surrounded Luffy. "The number of pupils grew!" Vivi shouted to Luffy.

Something sparked in his eyes. "Alright, everyone listen to me! Stance!" They threw out their flipper in a punch. "No! Like this!" Luffy corrected them on how to do it.

"Has he always been like this?" I asked Ace as Luffy taught them how to fight.

"As far back as I can remember, yeah," Ace just smiled and shook his head.

"Alright!" Luffy grabbed his bag once he was done with the lesson. "Let's set out for Yuba!"

We slowly got off the ship. "Hold on..." Zoro's eyes twitched. Luffy had a whole army of the dugongs behind him. "Are you bringing them with us?!"

"That's too many people to take care of," I crossed my arms. "We have just enough supplies or all of us. Besides, can they even trek the desert? They're aquatic animals!"

"Mira's right. The Dugongs can't cross the desert."  Vivi explained. "They'd never make it and..." I felt my heart melting as a couple of them hugged Luffy's legs, begging him not to leave.

"Oh man... that's just too cute..." My lower lip pouted. "Nami, Vivi, can we take them, please?" I looked back to see them fighting to say no to their cute faces. They turned away and spoke in hushed whispers. They were debating on whether what they were doing was a bad thing or not.

I walked over to one of the dugongs. "You guys are just too adorable. I wish you could come with us." He looked up at me with sad eyes, pleading. "No, no please! Don't do this to me! I don't know if I can say no to you!"

"Wait, I have an idea!" Chopper suddenly went for our bags and sniffed around. "Let's see here... it should be around here somewhere..."

"What're you doing?" Sanji asked.

"Ah, here it is!" He pulled out some meat. "You can have this, so stay here, okay?"

"Are they even meat eaters? Hey, wait! That was from my bag!" Chopper handed them the meat that was pulled from my bag.

They swarmed him and began carrying him somewhere. "Help me!"

"Chopper!" Usopp called after him. "Bring him back!" Usopp and I chased them down and promised them more food if they left Chopper with us and waited here with the ship. They agreed and gave us a heartfelt goodbye as we left. One banged on drums while the others munched on meat and rice balls. Sanji had to hit Luffy so he wouldn't eat all the food before we even took one step on our journey.

"See ya!" Luffy waved to them as we finally grabbed the rest of our things and headed off.

"Hey, Luffy!" Nami called for his attention. "Do you understand the situation?"

"They said they were coming with me, so why couldn't they?" He asked with a pout.

Her eyes narrowed. "We couldn't go into a city with such a large group! You're so dumb! Honestly! We would have been in big trouble had Chopper not convinced them."

"Yeah!" Chopper huffed. "They kept saying 'We'll accompany you!' They really would have come if we didn't offer them food!"

"Thanks to you, our food supply has gotten smaller!" Sanji grumbled.

"He knows how to cause trouble." Ace shook his head.

Sanji nodded. "That's for sure!"

"Luffy is just a magnet for trouble." I shrugged. "I don't know how we haven't seen this happen before. If Luffy is there, trouble isn't that far behind."

"But that's what makes things fun!" Luffy chuckled.

"For you, maybe!" I snapped and took a deep breath. "No need to get heated. It's already hot enough in the desert."

Vivi, Zoro, Usopp, and I pulled ahead of the group to avoid the bickering between Luffy and Nami. We came to a stop at the edge of a sand pit. My mouth opened in shock. What happened to this place? It looks like ruins.

"Is this the town of Yuba?" Luffy asked as the rest of the group joined up with us.

"It's..." I quickly shut my mouth. Vivi already looks distressed, and our journey has only just begun. Something tells me this is only the tip of the sand dune.

"No..." She slowly shook her head. "This is Erumalu. It used to be known as the City of Green..."

"City of Green?" Luffy took a couple steps closer.

Vivi turned to face the rest of the group. "The sight of this town explains everything. What Baroque Works has done to this country, what the people of Alabasta are going through... There will most likely be more of this." Her voice trailed off as she faced the used to be city. Reluctantly, she walked on. We followed behind her and into the city of ruins.

I glanced around to the decrepit rubble, hoping that anyone who used to live here had gotten out before it got too bad. My heart grew heavy as we traveled in deeper. Those poor people...

"Wow! There's nothing here at all!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's a ghost town now," Vivi said softly as she slowly looked around. "Up until recently, it was a thriving city full of greenery!"

"This place was?" Zoro kicked a tree. It started to crack at the base.

"Don't do that!" I pulled him away from it and dragged him back to the group so we wouldn't fall behind.

"Rain was always scarce, but even so, the city was able to manage," Vivi explained. "They did it by saving every drop of rainwater they could. But, for three years now,  not a single drop of rain has fallen anywhere in this country."

Sanji came to a stop at those words. "Three years?!"

"That long?!" Chopper glanced around once more.

"But even without rain, what about the river we just crossed?" Zoro asked.

"Hey, that's a good point!" I agreed with him. "They could have brought water back to the city! Why couldn't they do that?"

"Couldn't they just pipe it from the river?" Usopp pointed back the way we came from.

A serious look crossed Vivi's half covered face. "The answer to that is just up ahead." I gulped, not liking that answer. She continued on and spoke more about Alabasta. "Never in the thousands of years in Alabasta's history has the rain stopped completely. But there was one place where the rain fell more than usual. Alubarna, the capital. The city with the king's palace... The people called it the King's Miracle. Until what happened that day, at least..."

She trailed off and took a deep breath before speaking once more. "Some cargo ship had come to drop off supplies like normal. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. That is, until the cart's wheel had broken, exposing what was inside. Dance Powder."

"Are you serious?" Nami cut in.

"You've heard of it?" Luffy asked her.

She nodded. "Yes. It's also known as Rain Summoning Powder. I'd only heard stories about it, but a researcher in a country where is doesn't rain created it. By creating a misty smoke from it and letting it rise into the sky, you can artificially cause it to rain. That's what Dance Powder is."

"Oh! I get it!" Luffy exclaimed. "You mean that mystery powder!"

"Wait, when did you come across that powder?" I pulled him to a stop and crossed my arms. "What adventures did you have before we found you?"

"I ate some a while back!" He smiled. "It tastes bad!"

"It isn't food," Nami walked past him, eyes narrowed at him.

"It's for making rain." Zoro took my hand as he walked by.

Luffy began throwing a tantrum. "You think I'm lying?! Hey! Come back! I'm not lying!"

"Wouldn't something like that be perfect for this country?" Usopp asked, interrupting Luffy completely as he continued to shout at us.

Nami spoke over her shoulder to him. "As the name suggests, the country that developed Dance Powder was almost happy enough to dance at first. But there was a big catch: the neighboring country had a drought. Understand? Dance Powder quickly and artificially matures clouds that would develop into rain clouds farther downwind and cause them to rain. So-"

"I get it!" Realization hit him. "It steals the rain that would have gone to the neighboring country!"

"That's not right," I shook my head. "What did the other country do about it?"

"Eventually, war broke out between the two countries," Nami continued. "Many lives were lost as a result. Ever since, the Government has put a world wide ban on the production and possession of Dance Powder."

"Power that can bring both happiness and dread when used... no wonder it got banned." Usopp crossed his arms and shook his head.

"When all that Dance Powder was brought into the port town, Alabasta was in the middle of a strange weather phenomenon." Vivi spoke once more. "Rain fell nowhere but the town where the king lived. Accusations flew and the people turned against the king."

"Hold on, Vivi! That means your dad is the bad guy here!" She flinched at Luffy's words, her body shaking.

"You idiot!" Luffy got a solid kick to the head from Sanji. "He was framed! Vivi-chan's father would never do such a thing! Never, never, never!" Each word he spoke, a kick was done to Luffy's head.

"He'd never do that, right?" I placed a hand on her shoulder. "He wouldn't jeopardize his kingdom like that."

"Of course my father had nothing to do with it," She gave a sad smile. "But at the same time, a massive amount of Dance Powder was found within the palace. I confronted my father about it, and he claimed to not know anything about it."

"They even had people working inside the palace?" Zoro asked beside me. I held his hand tighter as I took in this information. It must be Baroque Works that was behind the whole thing from the very beginning.

We stopped before a road in the middle of the town. "What's this road, Vivi-chan?" Sanji was the first to speak.

"This was the canal that used to bring water in from the Sandora River," Her shoulders slumped as she stared ahead.

"Oh... they already tried that," I looked away. Of course they would have tried that, given where they lived.

"Mm-hm," Vivi nodded. "Someone destroyed this, too. With this canal gone, the City of Green could no longer secure water. As if praying, the people continued to wait, but no rain ever came."

She turned away and kept walking. "Ever since the Dance Powder incident, distrust in the king grows daily."

"And it's all how Crocodile planned, huh?" Zoro concluded, shaking his head.

"And then the fighting began," Vivi's shoulders shook. "To escape the fighting, the exhausted people abandoned the city and searched for other oases in search of water."

"And then..." She trailed off and came to a stop. We all stopped and watched her, a princess grieving the state of her country. "The City of Green withered away..." The wind picked up then, blowing dust around us. It added to the atmosphere of the old, forgotten city which once held life. My hand grew slack and slipped out of Zoro's. Those poor people...

Suddenly, the wind picked up, giving a ghostly howl. "Okay, nature. We get it. It's a ghost town."

"Mira, this is no time for jokes!" Vivi snapped at me.

"I'm sorry! It slipped out!"

"That's not what I mean!"

"Is that someone's voice?" Nami asked as she shielded her eyes.

"Is it the rebel army?" I almost didn't hear Chopper as the howling grew louder.

Usopp gritted his teeth. "Don't tell me Baroque Works has been following us!"

The wind echoed through the buildings, the howling and moaning never stopping. We readied our weapons and got into defensive stances. This would be a great time for Baroque Works to take advantage of us.

"It's just the wind," Ace said behind us.

"It has to be someone's voice," Luffy said to him.

Usopp began to tremble. "It's coming from all directions. What do we do, Big Brother?"

"There's no danger," Ace insisted. "It's just wind blowing across town and echoing off the old buildings."

A gust of wind knocked my hood off, causing my hair to block my view. I fought to get it back in place.

"It's as if the city of Erulamu is crying," Vivi choked out.

"Here it comes!" Nami suddenly shouted.

"Here what comes?!" I finally managed to tame my hair as a wall of dust came right for us. "Oh... that thing." Strong arms wrapped around me as we braced ourselves against the whirlwind of sand and debris. I coughed and fought to keep my mouth closed. It's hard to breathe in this mess!

Soon, it let up and blew away. I coughed and sneezed, trying to clear my airways. Zoro patted my back as I rubbed the grit from my eyes. "Thanks... blegh... I've got sand in my teeth..." He handed me a canister of water to clean my mouth out.

"What was with that wind?" USopp asked as I rinsed my mouth.

"Whatever it was, it's left the taste of the desert forever planted in my mouth." I took a swig of water to clear my throat.

"Someone's collapsed!"

"What?!" I looked up in the direction Nami pointed to. Luffy was already ahead of us to help him. I pulled my hood up to hide my ears and followed the group to the person's aid.

"There's still people in this place?" Vivi gasped out as we neared the man. We stopped before the figure. My eyes widened as I felt my face pale. Before us was nothing but a tattered cloak and a decayed skull. I was pulled into a chest, my face covered.

"What did my father..." Vivi sniffed. "What did the citizens of this country ever do...? These people have worked so hard to live, being natives of a desert land who are forced to fight with nature. Yet he's destroyed their lives!" I felt some of my own tears slip down my dusty cheeks.

"What gives him the right to do that?" Her voice shook with each word. "All the while, as one of the Seven Warlords, he pretends to be a hero to the people! No one realizes he's deceiving the entire country! I can't let him get away with this!"

I gasped and pulled away as what sounded like an explosion filled the air. A building a little ways in the distance began to fall and crumble. "Was that... Luffy?"

"Geez, you're all such kids," Zoro grumbled as Sanji, Luffy, and Usopp walked away from the falling building.

"Here," Ace knelt down and began digging at the sand. "Let's bury the man a little better. It's not much, but it'll be a better burial."

Vivi Nodded. "Right." The two of them dug at the sand to make a bigger hole. Carefully, they placed what was left of the man in the hole and covered him back up. As Ace stuck a twig in the sand, I folded my hands and bowed my head.

"Vivi!" I looked back up when Luffy returned. "Let's get moving. I'm itching to do this now." He rolled his shoulders, popping them. He was serious and ready for action.

She stood and wiped at her face. A new determination was coming off her in waves. "Let's go to Yuba!"

"That's where the rebel army is, right?" Zoro grabbed my things I had set down.

"Yes," A light smile graced her lips. "I'm going to persuade the leader to stop the rebellion."

He arched an eyebrow at that. "Persuade?"

"She can do it!" I smacked his arm lightly. "Don't doubt her!"

"All of Alabasta's calamities are because of Crocodile!" She grabbed her own bag, ready to set off. "I'm going to tell him the truth and have him stop the pointless shedding of blood!"

"Got it." And so we traveled on, leaving behind the once beautiful city. We're not fighting for just Vivi anymore. We're fighting to help the countless lives who are at stake. We're here to stop the bloods of innocent lives from flooding the streets.

We walked with the sun our heads, the wind in our face, and a new outlook on what we were getting in to.

Look out, Crocodile. You've got an army coming for you.

And we're going to stop you. All of us, together.