Skin Shedding || Akari || One Piece Fanfiction

12. Disguised Blessing♥️

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Chapter 12: Disguised Blessing
♠️Present

The morning didn't quite start as planned. I woke up alone in bed, discovering that the men were still on deck, by the fact that Shanks wasn't laying next to me. Everyone probably drank a lot that night but I left them alone. I just felt tired from the whole 'I'm going to leave' adventure... so, I went to bed.

And I wasn't really in the mood for drinking, that must have been such long time since I refused alcohol. The smell of it almost made me vomit, weird enough. Shanks on the other hand, didn't hold back. He was excited and relieved that I would stay on his side. Because well... I will now be joining the upcoming adventures.

My past wasn't that bad but because I never shared it with anyone or couldn't deal with the fact they knew about my past... it made me stand in a difficult position.

Only a few men were awake, everyone else was sleeping like a sheep on the wooden floor. The captain, the first mate, the sniper and even the meat-eating beast were still drinking. Well, from all the booze that was still left. Checking the last leftovers in each glass, in other words.

Akari had send everyone to bed, knowing they would have done nothing more than complaining about their headache in the burning sun. Of course, she helped the captain herself, even if she almost fell because of his weight. Except the problem in the morning was about something she couldn't find anymore.

Her necklace, which she wore yesterday, wasn't around her neck anymore. The necklace which held the last memory of her parents. She was sure she still had it around her neck after she jumped from the ship. She looked on deck, in the kitchen, quietly in the bedroom without waking up Shanks... nothing. So, the only place left was on land.

This time she wrote a letter that she would return as fast as she could. Informing her captain about the lost necklace and that he didn't have to worry about her 'losing the way'. Even if she was a little bit scared that they would leave her behind, she still jumped from the ship to find her beloved trinket.

As her bare feet touched the cold stones of the path to the little city, the woman noticed that everything looked so different. The houses looked old, the most shops were abandoned and no children or people on the street. It looked so empty and sad. Where is everyone?

'Hello beautiful, I think this will fit you perfectly!' Akari's breath was taken away as she remembered the man on the street. The feeling of a rope being put around her wrist and the happy aura of the people on the street. Only nobody, except for the white haired woman herself, was on the street.

Her eyes went to her surroundings, eventually finding a jewelry shop on her right. Maybe he sells his stuff in here. When he gave me the bracelet, could he have grabbed my necklace? Hopefully he still remembers me! Before she entered the shop, only sounds of birds and the wind filled her ears on the empty street... maybe they are still sleeping?..

"Hello?" Akari's voice echoed through the shop, the dusty and messy shop. It was dark and the air smelled foul, almost if they haven't cleaned since a few years. Her feet dodging the fallen jewelry on the ground, while her eyes were adjusting to the dark place. It almost looked like the shop was robbed or at least abandoned.

"Is someone here?" Again nobody answered, not that she expected much from it as she thought back to the abandoned street. A sigh was released by the woman, causing some dust to fly up in the air. A cough was slowly tickling in the back of her throat, almost not noticing the sudden but quiet sounds behind her.