The Princess and The Swordsman (ZoroxOC)

Chapter 115

Robin sat the skull down on the ground, catching Jax's attention. He moved closer to her as they both examined the skull, "Hey! Looks good as new." Sanji observed, "Except the holes in the crown. Look Jax." Robin urged and Jax peered closer, "Those came from and external source." Jax mused, "Looks like arrows or a spear, something." Sanji said. Jax shook his head, "Not a bad guess, but no. These are from a medical procedure called craterization." Jax explained and Robin looked at Chopper, "Right, doctor?" she asked.

Chopper hummed, "An ancient one. They cut out a small hole in the skull to remove a foreign mass, like a tumor. And since it leaves a crater behind, that's how you get the name." Chopper explained. Robin and Jax looked back at the skull, "Knowing how old of a technique this is, I'd say this man has been dead at least 200 years." Robin surmised and Jax nodded, "I can also say with confidence this man was in his early 30's when he died. It must've been during his voyage that he finally succumbed to the illness, whatever it was." Jax expressed. Robin nodded, "Much more than the rest of his bones, his teeth have remained in surprisingly good condition." Robin added.

"Because he rubbed tar on them. It was a common practice in the South Blue to keep out bacterial infections. And considering the history of that region, I'd suspect that he was with an exploratory party." Jax described as Robin walked away. She came back with a book and flipped through it before speaking again, "Here it is. Jax, listen to this. The Briss Kingdom of the South Blue. They launched the St. Briss as a scout ship, 208 years ago." she read out loud. 

"Nami looked over her shoulder, "That's it! That's the ship that fell on us." Nami said and Zoro and I looked, "Yeah, I recognize that figure head out front." Zoro agreed, "It's probably sailed the seas above us unmanned since the captain and crew died." Robin suggested and Jax nodded in agreement. I looked over Robin's shoulder, "it's amazing what you can tell from looking at old bones." I remarked and Nami nodded in agreement, "I'm sure you've heard that dead men tell no tales, right?" Robin asked as she glanced at us, "But everything around them does. If this was a scouting party, we should find evidence of that on the St. Briss." Jax added on to Robin's question.

"Yeah. Except it's sinking like a stone." I said, pointing at the St. Briss. Nami looked up at the St. Briss, "What are you doing, you idiot? You can't swim!" Nami shouted at Luffy as Luffy called for help. Shae sighed and dove into the water, retreiving our idiot captain, and bringing him back to the Merry. Jax walked over and took Luffy from her as Zoro helped her onto the Merry. Once on the Merry, Shae leaned against the railing and huffed, "You idiot." she sighed as Luffy laughed, "You guys won't believe it!" Luffy said grinning.

"I did it! I found the most incredible thing!" Luffy said, visibly excited. He held up a rolled up old map and opened it, revealing an old map labeled 'Skypiea', "A map of the sky island?" everyone exclaimed, "It's called Skypiea?" Nami asked. Luffy grinned, "That's right." Shae said with a smile, "Then it's true. There really is an island up there." I said in surprise and everyone cheered. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp were cheering in the background, as Nami sighed, "Hold on guys. We don't know how to get there or if it's even possible." Nami said and I nodded, "Not to mention there are a lot of fake teasure maps in circulation." I added.