Acing The Mission | The Origins: Book 1

Chapter 13

"Kailee! Kailee!" The crew and Ace called, yelling for the Angel.

"This is pointless! We'll never find her like this!" Nami groaned.

"Can't she fly or something?" Zoro asked.

"Well, yeah, but she barely got the basics down while we were sailing to Alabasta. Kept crashing into the ocean. Lucky for her, she didn't possess a Devil Fruit, or she'd have been dead fifty times over. She can kind of teleport, too, but I can't be sure how the basics work with that. Half of her explanation made no sense anyway. She might not be able to teleport without knowing where she's going," Ace shrugged sadly.

"We'll find her!" Luffy crossed his arms determinedly. "For sure!"

"How do you know for sure?" Ace asked disappointedly.

"She's strong! I know she is! And if she's really our sister, it doesn't matter what you said! She'll come back! I know she will!" Luffy exclaimed faithfully. "There's no doubt in my mind!"

'I wish I had the same faith, Lu,' Ace admired. 'You're right. Somehow, you're always right. She's our little sister. She'll come back. And when she does...'

'I'll make sure to let her know that.'

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Kailee panted, her flutters weakening. She couldn't keep this up. Her wings were getting tired.

She dropped to the sand, breathing heavily as she clutched her stomach. She wanted to throw up. The desert heat and exhaustion made her sick.

"Luffy, if you're still alive, I'm sorry I'm weak. I'm not strong like you, not like Ace, not like your crew. I'm just..." She trailed off. "...pathetic."

The words he'd repeated over and over again throughout the anime swum in her head, calling out to her and encouraging her.

Kailee took a deep breath and stood on shaky legs, determination filling her soul with a sense of triumph.

She refused to accept defeat. She shouldn't, she wouldn't, she couldn't.

Not when she knew Luffy had always had faith in her and her abilities. She had to prove her worth, prove that he was right about her.

She had to prove it to Ace. She refused to be weak and helpless any longer. There was no time for that anymore. Her life wasn't mundane and continuous anymore, not normal.

From now on, things were just going to continue getting crazier, harder, and more dangerous.

She had to be ready to face it head first.

"One more try," Kailee muttered. "I have to know what happened at least. Please work."

With one final determined burst of energy, her wings gave two large flaps, the air around them gusting before dying down as her form disappeared.

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Ace and the Strawhats cried out in surprise as a figure materialized in front of them.