Queen of the Pirates

The Princess of Alabasta

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"Another one!" I chuckle as Zoro downs another stein of ale while the guy sitting next to him doesn't even get halfway before falling face first into the table. "That's ten people taken out!"

The night has been crazy with all the partying that the villagers have done for us. Usopp has been telling his tales to anyone that will listen for hours, and the smile on his face shows how much fun he is having. I'm sure it reminds him of telling stories to Kaya to cheer her up. Then Zoro and Nami have been fighting anyone who wants to battel them in a drinking competition. Zoro is at ten guys down while Nami has defeated twelve, which I'm not even sure how that is possible. Luffy is doing what he does best, eating all the food that this place has. He's gotten quite pudgy from all the food he's consumed, which means he'll pass out soon enough. Sanji has been flirting with every single girl that he runs into, and all of them have been head over heels for him.

Then there's me. At first the villagers stole me away from Zoro's side, which had me panicking for a bit. I found it weird that they would want to separate us, but went along with it for a bit. I showed off my shurikens that I refuse to leave on the boat from now on, and I even polished up some of the swords they brought to me. I then played darts with a few people, though I used my shurikens, and I was then I was able to break away after beating every opponent they had. I made my way back to Zoro who was downing stein after stein of the islands fine ale.

"Zoro, how can you do this?" I chuckle, sitting next to him on the couch.

"Lots of practice," he burps, sending a wink my way. A wink that tells me he has a plan. "I've been on the road by myself for a long time, and I would drink like this when I collected a bounty."

"Oh, that's great," I giggle, placing a hand on his shoulder. "How many more do you think you can beat?"

"Enough," he raises his empty stein into the air. "Who's next?!"

A new challenger approaches, and Zoro is able to get through three more before tapping out and falling face first into the table. Nami reaches fifteen people beaten (one of which was a sister!) before tapping out while laughing harder than I have ever seen her. Usopp falls asleep mid-story, and Luffy is snoring while lying on his back, bigger than I have ever seen him. He took out three chefs. Then Sanji is in some sort of love coma from all the girls loving on him. I curl up on the couch, closing my eyes and drifting off into a peaceful sleep. At least, that is what I should be saying, but like Zoro, I haven't had a good feeling about these people since we say them cheering for us as we approached. They aren't who they say they are.

"Akari, are you awake?" Zoro gives me a small shake. If he was drunk before, he has completely sobered up.

I sit up, blinking and looking up at him. "Who are they?" I look around the room and notice the lack of villagers.

"Baroque Works, a bounty hunter organization. They tried to get me to join when I was doing that kind of thing, but I turned them down because of how secret they are, and they fact that I could never be boss," he smirks. "I'm going to go out there and fight them."

"Do you need help?" I perk up, a smile lighting up my face.

"Not out there," he shakes his head. "I'm going to test out my new swords, and I can't keep my eye on you with how many of them there are out there."

I pout, puffing out my cheeks, "I can handle my own with you."

"I'm sure you can," he pats the top of my head. "I need you in here to wake up the rest of the crew when the time comes. Rest your eyes. I slept through that storm out on the sea, so you deserve to rest. This is my fight, Akari. You'll have your fights."