Marionette (One Piece)

1| In Stranger's Arms

"Perona, you're suffocating her"

Oxygen ran inside her lungs again but for some unknown reason, she didn't get mad at the lady who managed to pull her in a death hug.

All she did as a response was stare at the woman with her emotionless brown eyes and made eye contact to her as she ended up being squashed into the strange lady's embrace once more.

"Who is she?"

The woman was a total stranger to her. This was the first time she met someone who looks colorful and lively but dull and lifeless at the same time. She had big round eyes and light pink hair tied up into two high pigtails with black and white hairpins. Her looks were inspired by the 'Gothic Lolita' style with shades of black, white, and bright red. There's just something about the lady that made her feel like she's not really human.

"PISS OFF SHE'S MINE!"

The girl knew the lady was talking about her but who was she talking to? She hoped the woman with her wasn't talking to herself or has gone mad.

In the corners of her eyes, she caught sight of countless men in blue and white clothing. Each men either had a rifle or a sword in his grasp.

"Who are they?"

"Let them speak Perona"

The girl realized a man standing next to her after the lady spun her around to take a good look at the uniformed men and the environment they were in.

The man was very tall and had jet-black hair, a short beard, mustache and what it appears to be sideburns that pointed upwards. What the girl find eye-catching were his strangely colored yellow eyes and a crucifix strapped at his back which the girl just identified to be a sword.

The discussion of the swordsman, lady and the men carried on yet the girl couldn't make out what they were talking about.

"What were they talking about?"

"Why do they look so serious?"

"Am I included in their conversation?"

It just seemed like they just randomly opened and closed their mouths and still understood each other until a fresh question hit her.

"How did I get here?"

She had no memory of the reason why she woke up in the lady's arms nor why she was with her and the swordsman in the first place. She didn't know where she came from or if she happened to tag along with them and lose her memories on the way.

When she came back to her senses, she found herself standing erect with the woman's hands resting on her shoulders but she still wanted an answer.

She searched through her mind for anything that could help but all she received was a headache as she instinctively drew her hand and plastered it on her forehead, hopeful that the pain will subside.

"...lost her memories, see?"

She realized they were talking about her since she felt intense gazes concentrated on her but no one knew she was startled by their sudden attention because her face concealed it all away.

"I'll take full responsibility of her"

The girl sensed someone stroking her luscious raven-colored hair and concluded that having the lady adopt her sounded nice. If it meant living with the swordsman, better.

"Be good to your new family squirt"

The closest man stepped closer to her and she distinguished him as a Marine. He bowed at them before he gestured at his men to leave.

"Family"

The girl mouthed the word in her lips. It seemed so foreign to her like she was an alien smacked down to a new world she had no knowledge of.

Wait, wasn't she like that right now?

She was going to ponder more on the subject when the pink-haired lady spun her around once more to face her.

"Hi there cutie!" the woman greeted with a blinding white crescent smile on her face. "I'm Perona!"

The girl's right eyebrow arched upwards as she pointed to herself.

"Yes you horo-horo-horo-horo!" the lady giggled at the confusion. "We're the only two cute people here right now"

The girl heard someone scoff and guessed it came from the golden-eyed swordsman. She saw his head facing away with his arms crossed over his chest. His black hat with a plume nested over his hair, creating shadows over his left eye.

"Is there something wrong?!" the lady hissed at him, offended by being a subject of ridicule. The girl curiously shifted her attention to the both of them.

"I didn't say anything" the lean man simply replied without glancing at her.

The young woman rolled her eyes and glanced back at the girl. "That inconsiderate man over there is Dracule Mihawk"

"Mihawk, so that's explains the beautiful eyes he had. I wish my eyes were as pretty as his"

The girl simply nodded her head as she stared at the yellow orbs in his eyes while waiting for the lady to speak again.

"So do you have a name?"

"Name"

She silently played the word with her mouth. Why hadn't she thought about that issue?

"Can you speak?"

The girl gave her attention on the first question and contemplated to arrive with an answer.

What was her name? How come she didn't remember it?

Did she even have one? Of course she must've had one.

Unfamiliar voices spoke in her mind at the same time and she discerned two names yet which one was hers? Which was her true name?

No one here knew the answer to Perona's question but she had to choose one name.

"....."

"Come again? I didn't hear that quite"

"Ma..."

Strange. Her voice sounded hoarse like she had screamed non-stop but she wanted to respond to the kind and eccentric lady in front of her.

She didn't really scream and fall into sleep right? That story sounds preposterous.

"Ma-rie, name is Marie"