Opavia

79.

after leaving the island, vitani sat beside kierra, snacking on octopus fritters hungrily.

"these are so good." vitani squirmed excitedly.

"delicious!" kierra agreed. vitani looked up as the sea-bull rushed after them.

"wait! you guys! i didn't get to say thank you!" duval cruised forward.

"why's he look so different?" vitani murmured, noticing her change of facial structure.

"i rearranged his facial structure." sanji explained. duval swept kierra's hand, kissing her wrist before slipping vitani his transponder snail number.

"you can call me whenever you need me, day or night." vitani slipped it into her shirt and turned, kierra waving.

"thanks!" she winked, leaping up onto the sunny from hatchan's ship. she laid down against the tree, kierra resting against her waist.

vitani woke as they arrived and drifted through sabaody archipelago, staring up at the large bubbles. she shivered, kierra looking over at her.

"what's wrong?" she murmured, vitani shaking her head.

"i have a horrible feeling about this place." she admitted. "i feel like something's watching us...someone."

"i think you're just freaking yourself out." kierra smiled. "don't worry."

they docked at grove 41, vitani and kierra leaping down with chopper. kierra awed as a bubble emerged from the ground, luffy leaping atop of it. he bounced around on each one, laughing excitedly as the bubbles drifted up.

"let's head out of here." vitani murmured. "i wanna look around. you comin'?"

"of course." kierra beamed. "hey, sanji! we'll be back, we're gonna go walk around!"

"alright." sanji waved.

kierra ran after vitani as she stepped to the border of grove 41. she turned to kierra expectantly.

"what?" she placed her hands on her waist and gave a cheeky beam. vitani sighed, pushing kierra over the edge.

"hey!" she snapped, a piece of rock extending so she fell on it. vitani stepped over her calmly.

"see how easy that was?" she smiled over her shoulder as kierra rose. the rekran trailed after them as they stepped on to grove 38, looking at the town. as the sisters walked forward, zeze whined and stepped infront of her.

"what's wrong?" vitani frowned, running her hand over zeze's face as eos pushed against kierra's waist.

"i don't think they want us to go." kierra hummed. vitani looked forward at the town, analyzing the citizens. she looked over the playing children, laughing amongst each other.

"it can't be that bad." she murmured, moving zeze. "stay here. we'll be right back, okay?"

kierra rose and ran her hand over eos' head before continuing into the town. they walked through the streets slowly to give themself time to awe over the buildings. vitani turned inside a bar, taking an open seat as kierra stood behind her. the people seemed to shudder and retreat to hush whispers at their arrival. vitani pulled out a small map from her pocket, unfolding it.

"where'd you get that from?" kierra peeked over her shoulder.

"nami's room." she answered quietly. she ran her finger over the bubble land. "it isn't marked."

"yeah and the logpose didn't catch it either. sanji said something about it not actually being an island, which makes sense since it's really just a huge mass of trees when you think about it." kierra hummed.

"how can i help you two today?" the bartender smiled. kierra looked up and gave a smile when vitani didn't respond.

"uh, just some water please." she smiled. the bartender nodded and turned back around, quickly making two glasses of water. he presented it before them, kierra leaning forward.

"hey, thanks!" she beamed, bringing the cup to her lips. vitani suddenly slammed it down, the glass crashing against the counter. the liquid inside melted the counter, kierra leaning forward.

"what the hell?!" she snapped, vitani standing. with a swift movement, she grabbed the bartender's collar and pulled him into her fist. he fell to the ground, his body flashing before revealing a dark skinned opavian boy with neon green paints. his green eyes glared up at vitani as she landed on the other side of the counter and towered over him.

"you gotta bone to pick?" she snarled.

"leave him be" a voice ordered from the other side of the room. "vitani."

she looked up, staring at a large man beside the entrance. he sat alone at a table, his skin dark like the young boy's. he had metallic blue face paints and a great bow to his side, woods replaced with sharp medals. he wore feathers and beads in his thick curly hair which fell just below his shoulders.

"come take a seat, let's talk." a dark skinned girl with yellow paints beside him raised her hand, chairs pulling up behind the sisters. they buckled into the seats as it shot forward, stopping once it reached the table. vitani panted furiously, looking up as the setting of the bar changed. blood splattered the walls, the bodies of the men revealed limp against chairs. kierra stared in horror as another opavian man rose behind the bar. he had dark purple paints, helping the other boy over the counter. they stood behind the man and the girl, vitani narrowing her eyes.

"who are you?" she demanded.

"so tense." he mused. "you remind me so much of my eldest brother."

"she said who are you!" kierra snapped.

"amari." vitani whispered. amari gave a crooked smile in response.

"i'm surprised you even know my name." he muttered. "t'kai has talked to you about me."

"not exactly." kierra glanced at vitani. "i mean, you are our uncle right? we would have found out about you one way or another."

"do not refer to me as your uncle." he snapped, vitani gritting her teeth. "we are not family. we're nothing more than strangers."

"okay, okay, geez." kierra rubbed her hair nonchalantly. "so who's your little posse?"

"these are my children." he growled. "reese." he acknowledged the boy with the purple paints. "dee." the boy with the green paints. "and my youngest, amaya."

"woah, so they're like our cousins right?" kierra beamed.

"what the hell did i just say?!" he snapped, vitani shifting.

"so why are we here?" she hummed impatiently. "we haven't known about you for 18 years, what do you want from us now?"

amari hummed and smiled, leaning forward. "i'm going to take your heads to t'kai and show him what happens when you desert family."