beloved daughter of the sea

A Waitress's choice

You surged through the water with the speed and grace of a creature born to the sea, the pressure of the depths never once bothering you. The familiar weightlessness of the ocean surrounded you, but above, chaos reigned. The sounds of a fierce battle echoed through the waves, punctuated by the heavy thud of something massive colliding with the Baratie's deck.

As you broke the surface, gasping in the fresh air, the scene before you confirmed the scale of the conflict. A man in a bizarre outfit stood on the deck, his head encased in a large, transparent plastic orb. Strapped to his body were two enormous circular discs, and in his hands, he clutched smaller versions of the same, each disk sporting a plastic orb at its centre.

Before him stood Luffy, the chore boy-turned-pirate, and Sanji, the cook with a fierce kick. The deck was littered with the battered bodies of chefs and pirates alike, their groans of pain barely audible over the crackling flames that licked at the ship's structure.

"It's only a nosebleed, Pearl!" one of the pirates shouted, his voice tinged with exasperation.

"Pearl! We know it's not a battle wound!" echoed another, their frustration clear.

So, his name was Pearl? How peculiar, you thought, as you assessed the strange warrior.

Pearl, however, seemed unfazed by their taunts. With a wild gleam in his eyes, he began smashing the discs in his hands together, the metallic clangs ringing out ominously. "Danger! Danger! DANGEEEERRRR!" he bellowed, his voice rising to a fevered pitch. Sparks flew from the discs, igniting the flammable material coating them, and within moments, the discs were ablaze with white-hot flames.

"UGHHHHHH! FIRE PEARLS, SPECIAL TREAT!" Pearl screamed, his voice a mix of madness and glee as he flung the flaming pearls across the deck, setting the already brittle wood alight.

This was your moment. Without hesitation, you launched yourself from the water, landing with a controlled yet powerful thud between Sanji and Zeff. Raising your hands, you summoned a wave of seawater that surged across the deck, extinguishing every flame save for the inferno that raged on Pearl's discs.

Despite your efforts, the specially treated wooden deck of the Baratie reignited almost immediately, the flame-resistant coating proving more of a hindrance than a help. You cursed under your breath—Zeff's obsession with a slip-free deck might just be the ship's downfall.

"If he keeps going, the ship's going to burn!" one of the chefs shouted, his voice tinged with panic.

"Y/N-sama!" Sanji called out, urgency in his voice. "We'll discuss your powers later. For now, can I trust you to protect Zeff?"

Though still simmering with frustration over Sanji's earlier defiance, now was not the time for arguments. You nodded firmly. "Count on me!"

With that, Sanji launched himself into the air, soaring over the ring of flames that surrounded Pearl and engaging in a fiery duel. Meanwhile, you turned your attention to the pirates who had managed to recover from their earlier burns.

You swung your trident with deadly precision, knocking several pirates away with ease. Yet, you noticed some of them trying to break through the ring of fire to assist Pearl. Not wanting to stray too far from Zeff's side, you pulled your arm back and hurled your trident with all your strength.

The weapon flew through the air, guided by your will. It carved a deadly arc through the sky, slicing through the pirates with surgical precision. One after another, they fell, until the trident reached the edge of the deck and deposited their bodies into the sea with a final, dismissive flick.

Suddenly, Pearl's voice rang out again. "FIRE PEARLS, GO!" he screamed, hurling another barrage of flaming projectiles toward you.

Shit!