A Piece Sentomauru Chapter 1 : The Aftermath Of The War

• Addiden Zhao
• Short Story
• 2023

10 Years ago...
Arc was nine years old and he lived in a village on the peaceful Rica Island. He was excited as the great King Egghead, who was one of the Four Emperors, was to visit the village that day. Egghead's ship made landfall, to the cries of excitement that echoed across the village. Arc ran to greet the Emperor who was signing autographs amidst the crowd. "Step back!" cried Marco, right-hand man of Egghead, using his Phoenix Fruit to fly in the sky. The villagers hastily stepped back, still watching the Emperor's crew in astonishment. Arc pushed through the crowd to Egghead. "Let me join your crew!" shouted Arc to the Emperor. Egghead looked down at the young Arc. "You are far too young to join my crew... why don't you join in twelve years time?" was the reply. "Please!" begged Arc. He so longed to be part of a pirate crew. Egghead shook his head firmly, though he smiled. Arc huffed and went off on a sulk as Egghead went to the bar to get some refreshments for his crew. Later that day, Arc visited the bar. The Egghead Pirates were laughing and drinking as they discussed plans. Near Egghead was a long, silver sword, gleaming in the light of the bar. The bartender gave them drinks after drinks until the door burst open. It was Glen, the landlord of Rica Island. "Pirates? On my island? You'd better get out!" she roared at the Egghead Pirates. She then strolled to the bartender and asked for a drink. "What do you mean there's none left?!" shrieked Glen when the bartender could not give her a refreshment. "Well, you see, the pirate crew took quite a bit..." stuttered the bartender in fear. Glen glared at the pirates. Egghead took out a bottle. "Here, you may have the last one," he said kindly. Glen scowled before breaking the bottle on Egghead's head, leaving a mess of liquid on his head. "You'd better be out before sunset!" snarled Glen. "Hey! They offered you the last drink! Show some respect!" yelled Arc to Glen. Glen whipped around and grabbed Arc by the neck. "What do you have to do with this?" she spat. "He's my friend. Let go of him," said Egghead calmly. "Oh yeah? Then, catch him!" Glen roared as she threw Arc out of the bar and into the sea. Arc yelled for help as a sea monster smelled him and swam up to him, ready to devour him. As the sea monster tried to eat Arc, a massive wave of red-and-black lightning, Aura, filled the air. The Aura was so powerful that it knocked the sea monster out. It was Egghead's Aura. Then, Marco retrieved Arc from the water and flew him back to the bar. Glen had fled after seeing Egghead's overwhelming power. Arc cried as the Egghead Pirates soothed him. "There, there, boy," Marco said, trying to calm Arc down. Egghead strode to Arc. "You may be too young to join my crew... but I want you to have this," he said as he gave the silver sword to Arc. At sunset, the Egghead Pirates left, with Arc in awe of his new sword.
In the present...
On Green Island, Arc cried at the memories of Egghead as he mourned the Emperor's death. He looked at his sword and felt another pang of sadness as he remembered that Egghead had given it to him. Marco watched Arc before flying towards a nearby hill. "Follow me," he said. Arc stumbled to his feet and followed Marco, weeping as he walked. On the top of the hill, Marco gestured for Arc to sit down.
"In the world, there are two things that overtop all. Aura... and Fruits. Fruits give you the superhuman power of whatever the fruit is, though at the cost of never being able to swim again. Aura is the embodiment of someone's willpower into lightning. Only people with the quality of a king can do so... Aura overpowers the weak-willed and I've heard that you can even infuse Aura into objects... like swords... to make them much more powerful. As your mentor, I recommend you eat this fruit that I found many years ago on the port of Saturn Island, though it is your choice. Do you wish to eat it?" asked Marco. Arc thought about having superhuman abilities... like Ivo's healing or Orochi's venom or even Egghead's tremor abilities. But Marco had said that Fruits had a cost - losing the ability to swim. Arc weighed his options and shook his head. "Very well," said Marco, "I will keep this fruit in case you change your mind. I think we'll start with you learning more swordplay and strengthening your Aura."
In a stretch of sea near Marine Fort...
There were two pirates fighting. Nayon. And 'The Umbra'. They were two members of the Worst Generation and they had gotten into a fight. As their fight shook the seas, pirate ships were gathering near an island called 'Sentomauru'.

TO BE CONTINUED In Chapter 2 : The Shores of Sentomauru