Guardian of the Destined (As You Wish)

Twenty-Five: ...A Marine Stronghold

"Like I said, the ship fell from the sky--I swear it!!"

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"It was really big and scary, and had a pink hat, then it jumped up and disappeared!"

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"HANDS!! Hands..!!!"

"What about hands?"

"A million hands started going through my entire body!" (A/N: I know what you're thinking. 'Amanda seems to be a heavy sinner...' And um. That's kinda true, but all the quotes are from the actual dub (view included video at the top)(can't find proper sub) so yeah. None of that junk in this fic.)

"Next thing I knew everything went black!"

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"Ahh, those hands. The unmistakeable touch of a beautiful woman~"

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"All I remember is a voice that was ordering people around, using weird names!"

"A voice?"

"A girl. Like a teenager I think!"

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Sylvie giggled as she went to 'report her findings' to her higher officer, who, in turn, began heading to what she knew was the commander's office. He stopped.

"Why are you following after me?" The man asked. "Return to your station."

Sylvie had already seen this coming. Swiftly, she replied:

"I-I just thought I could maybe follow you? I wasn't sent in with the other recruits. I came with the other ships recently, the damaged ones? I don't really get any orders... And I don't want to get lost..." She looked away timidly. "Oh, I'm rambling again..."

The man looked at her a bit longer, before nodding.

"Sure."

She followed after him. Hair nearly tucked underneath the marine cap. She at first thought that her eyes and slim figure would have given her away, but she was able to play the part of a shy cabin boy.

The man chuckled at her wide grin she failed to suppress.

His reasoning for her to smile was completely off as she thought differently.

'I haven't gotten rusty, that's good to know.'

As the two passed other marines in the halls, Sylvie listened to each conversation out of habit. As she had deduced, this base hasn't seen much action in a while. They seemed in good shape out of battle, but what harm could it cause to instigate a test of their performance on the field?

Of course, they would fail in capturing the Strawhat Pirates. But that was never her main objective. These marines were definitely not inexperienced, but, in a sense, they kind of were.

The little tenshi stopped short of bumping into the other man as he stopped before double doors. Knocking once, he was beckoned in.

The room was spacious, with a balcony in the far back overseeing the base. Beside the wide desk laid a humble fishing pole.

Feeling eyes on her, she zeroed in on a man who could only be known as the commander of the base.

A battle of wits was in order.

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Sylvie didn't need to act giddy when she already felt it. They were off to investigate the Going Merry. She was alongside the commander, who had said "you look like a good kid. Would you like to stay by me until your crew is ready to leave?"

And of course, she jumped at the idea.

"Ghost ship, huh?"

Thus, here she was, alongside the commander as he wanders purposefully throughout her own ship. She giggled.

"What's so funny, kid?"

"I-Is this much marine tape really necessary?" She stuttered to keep in character.

"As much as a waste it is, yes. It is necessary."

He observed the coffee Sanji had hastily but carefully set down out of harm's way. It was still steaming and the tenshi couldn't resist. Picking up her cup, she pretended to observe it, and become engrossed with the taste, though she had already taken a minor sip beforehand. It was nice to finish the rest.

She reached for more when another hand joined her.

The lieutenant's. They looked at each other and Sylvie pretended to be flustered.

"S-sorry! It smelled so good so I tasted one and-!! And!"

She suppressed the urge to smile as the man sipped the coffee and poured more for himself.

"It is good, isn't it?" She replied.

Sylvie picked up on the look of embarrassment. And poured more coffee for herself as she was offered more. The south bird called out quite loudly, and everyone jumped sans the commander.

"Easy there, it's just your run-of-the-mill South Bird.

"South Bird?"

"Yes. They always pointed south so they were a prized possession for sailors of the old, despite their silly appearance."

Sylvie had tried so desperately to conceal her laughter. She truly did. But seeing the commander flailing as the South Bird assaulted him with pinches was the best thing she'd seen since Haki Hide n' Seek. Which, admittedly, wasn't too long ago, but that didn't matter at all.

"C-Commander! Look at what I found in one of the rooms!"

A marine held up the bit of gold that Sylvie purposefully left behind. She had a lot of it hidden left anyway. Including gold from that ship before arriving to Jaya. So she had enough. Besides...Nami is bound to notice, as Sylvie had made sure she was aware of the gold's presence before they had to depart.

The commander quickly deduced that their ship had just left the island of Jaya

The commander entered the galley. "The kitchen is well-maintained..." He idly said aloud. 'They have a good chef...coupled with the aroma of that coffee earlier, a well-experienced one as well.'

A marine was piling books he had found on the table.

"Medical and history books, sir. New ones."

'They have a doctor and these history books... This proves that Nico Robin did indeed join the Strawhat Pirates...'

"Interesting." He said lazily. "Seems these 'ghosts' study a lot."

"Not ghosts again" the lieutenant muttered. "That's ridiculous."

The Commander went through each and every room, deducing that there were five men and two girls.

Incorrectly. Wiper didn't have a bunk yet and Sylvie never slept on a bed, preferring to sleep on a padded hammock that she disassembles every morning, sometimes sleeping in the crow's nest or among Nami's Milan trees with a blanket and pillow.

"Good work, men. Stay brave and remember to keep a watchful eye during your investigation of this ghost ship." Murmurings broke out among the marines as they left.

Hidden under the marine cap, Sylvie's eyes glowed with mischief.

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