Missy

The beginning...of what exactly?

I don't own One Piece. If I did, I would have a house in Water 7. No, not a house, I'd have a freaking mansion!

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It was upsetting that Water 7 was beautiful. Now it wasn't quite the same beauty as places like Flevance once had, with quaint buildings and gorgeous scenery. This beauty was more mundane, more mechanical even. The entire city itself was an engineering marvel, from the large water feature running through the centre to the large numbers painted at equal intervals around the wall. The entire island was built for function over style and wore it well.

You still hated it though.

You knew that it was irrational. You'd never even been to Water 7 before, so how could you dislike it to such an extent. But as you sat in the crow's nest watching it approach in the horizon, you couldn't help but want to run.

Kaku. Blueno. Kalifa. Lucci.

They could be anywhere in this maze of a city. Absolutely anywhere. Well, that was a lie. If you put your mind to ut, you could have an educated guess at where they were placed. Their target was Mayor Iceburg, you remembered Lucci saying that much, so there was a high chance that they'd be concentrated around that sort of area. Not everyone, but most of them.

As the saying went, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Having a backup was as important as the job itself.

"We should start planning for the worst."

Not replying for a moment, you stared vacantly at the city ahead, "Yeah. We should."

Sitting around hoping they wouldn't show up was a terrible idea. Worse than terrible, it was downright idiotic. Even if they didn't, you'd just end up scaring yourself more than anything. A plan would at least make you feel more certain about yourself.

"Do you think we should tell them everything we know?"

"No." Mello replied, "If we tell the crew CP9's names and each member's individual abilities, they will only be more suspicious of those individuals. That will only lead to them being targeted themselves."

"But we can't let them go in blind." You cocked your head, "Should we write it all in a note or something?"

"That seems reasonable. But add the directions not to open it unless we are missing for at least two hours."

"I might make that one and a half." You rummaged in your side pouches, finally managing to find a paper and pencil that had probably been in there too long. It'd do. "I don't think I want to be alone out there for that long."

"Yes... I completely agree."

It didn't take long to write. Looking at the information on the paper, you couldn't help but sigh. There was so little... even after spending most of your life with them. But then again they were all very private people, and there might be things that had happened after you left. The only two Devil Fruit users you knew among them so far were Jabra and Lucci, and they were powerful Zoan types. If they found another one...

You shook your head. No. Stop thinking like that! That'll only panic you more.

Almost subconsciously, you reached out to touch Merry's central mast in front of you.

No... Usopp please don't!

Ah. You grimaced. Usopp... He'd been avoiding you recently. Not that you particularly minded that, it was probably best for the two of you to have some space. Even if he said th... those things out of anger and was regretting it, the words still cut deeper than you would have liked. wasn't his fault. It wasn't your fault. It just... was.