"Thank you for coming, Master…"
"My name is not important."
"Alright then…"
"I need you to take care of these documents for me. Keep them safe. When the D's come, give it to them."
"I understand. But why are you entrusting this to me?"
"A woman will come to live on this island. She will be a carrier of D. Look after her, and give her these papers in ten years time."
"These documents. What are their importance?"
"They have the power to destroy the world."
With that ominous statement, the figure masked with a cloak left, leaving a very confused man holding onto what would become the key to upturning the world into chaos.
***
The woman walked away quietly, glancing back at the room where she had just given away the entire transcript of the 'devil's music'. She then faced forward again, and continued to walk away.
Portgas D. Rouge hoped for her friend, Rose D. Summer, would be able to make good use of the music. At least it would be better than what the government would do with it.
After all, she was one of the best musicians on her island. And it didn't take a genius to figure out notes by ear. And if one gets a crap-load of history shoved on her, what is she supposed to do? Give it to the hunter lady, duh!
Alright, maybe she hadn't thought this through very well.
***
"Mom, I can't sleep." Ruby complained, reaching up for her mother, who laughingly placed her daughter into her lap.
"Well then, how about I tell you a story?" She grinned, tickling the young child until she squealed.
"Yes! I love your stories!"
"This one is a story from our past."
"Our?"
"The past of the world. Now shut up and listen."
"Shutting up and listening."
"Good. It is a story from long ago…
"… The Void Century is a period of mystery. Not much is known about it, and its secrets are numerous. The Will of D. The Ancient Kingdom. The Great War. The Poneglyphs. And the devil's soul tree. However, the music that we are creating here is capable of reviving the Devil's soul tree."
"What's the Devil's Soul Tree?"
"It is a tree that is the birth of all devil fruits. Contrary to what most believe, Devil Fruits do not, in fact, come from the Grand Line. They come from the devil's soul tree, which was originally placed in the Grand Line. The tree churns out devil's fruits, and when the eater dies, their fruit is put into another nearby, ordinary fruit. Thus, the fruit's spirit lives forever. No two devil fruits can be alike and exist at the same time. However, the tree can be destroyed, and so, the government did. What they did not count on, was that the tree could be resurrected. It took two people with knowledge of the devil's music, and they must be of opposite gender—"
"If they have to be in love, I'm gonna cry."
Summer laughed and ruffled Ruby's hair. "No, they don't need to be in love. But anyways, I digress. So, once there was a devil that could entice anybody to leave the sea forever, and gain an amazing power. But the sea didn't like that. So she decided to warn those that ever ate the fruit that they would be betrayed by the sea, and sink like a stone! Finally, the sea changed the devil into a tree, known as the devil's soul tree."
"WOW! That's so cool!"
"I know, right!"
***
"Keep going!" A woman cried out to her daughter. Said daughter simply grabbed her skirt and pulled harder, dragging her to a cove.
"Mom…" She wheezed. "I can bend light, right? With darkness…"
"Ruby—"
"We can escape!" Her daughter smiled brightly, then pointed to the canoe near them.
"It'll tax you to cover both of us. Just fly away!" Her mother begged.
"Together or not at all." Her four year old daughter crossed her arms stubbornly. Bloody Rose cried silently, then hugged her daughter.
Soon, they pushed out to sea in a small, invisible canoe. Clearing the line of warships in total silence, simply rhythmically beating the paddles into the water, moving forward and farther away from the nightmare that was Mikazuki Island being destroyed in a Buster Call.
***
"YOU!" Ruby cringed when she heard that voice. It was the you-are-going-to-be-in-pain voice. She slowly turned around to see her insane mother with a knife. Slowly reaching up to the spot below her eye, where it had scarred, she gulped.
"You little pain in the ass, get over here now! I'm fucking sick of caring for your useless ass!" Ignoring her mother's ranting, she focused on the happy memories, before her mother had gone insane after seeing everyone dying.
"You're a little demon child aren't you? Congratulations! You've killed your own fucking mother!" Ruby snapped back to the present, just in time to see her mother sink the knife into her abdomen and collapse. She rushed forward and put a hand on her heart.
"Mom…" She whispered, letting her tears drip down onto her mother, mixing the salty liquid with blood.
"You promised me this. You'll stay alone, and you die alone. Got it?" Her mother narrowed her eyes, then they grew cold and lifeless. Ruby cried loudly, yanking the knife out and hugging her mother's dead body.
"Mom! You can't be dead! You.. you.. you can't…" Ruby broke down sobbing, clutching the knife. She didn't notice the door burst in, and didn't notice the concerned cries.
"Ruby! What happened?" A man asked. In Ruby's daze, she didn't remember him.
"I-I killed her… I'm sorry… I killed her…" Ruby broke down crying, grabbing her mother's body.
***
Shanks sighed as he looked around the island he had landed on. He didn't know what possessed him to take a vacation to the East Blue, the weakest of the four seas. Maybe it had something to do with it being his former captain's home. He had also heard rumors of five islands there that mimicked the Grand Line's terrifying unpredictability. Well, he certainly hadn't seen that yet.
He sighed as he slumped down in the bar seat, as the kind green-haired lady poured out some more sake for him.
"Is there anything cool here?" He asked, downing his alcohol. The bar-tender paused, then put her hand to her chin thoughtfully.
"Well, there is a forest with animals that are ten times the normal size. At least, that's what Ruby says."
"Ruby?" Shanks asked, interested.
"You mean the demon who lives in the woods and preys on the idiots who come inside?" A young child asked, looking up at Makino. Makino glares at the young boy.
"You shouldn't call Ruby a demon." She scolds.
"But it's true! I heard she even killed her own mother!" He exclaims.
"And you believed it?" Makino glares. Shanks stands up.
"I want to talk to this Ruby person. She seems interesting!" He grinned. "Benn, come on! Off to the forest!" With that declaration, he and his first mate walk out, his first mate rolling his eyes behind him.
As they walk to the forest, Shanks asks most of the other children playing around about who Ruby was. He got the same answer constantly. A demon who killed her own mother. He's even heard that she was only eight. It was starting to piss him off a bit.
Finally, they made it to the beginning of the forest. A voice asked from behind them, "Who are you?"
The two pirates whirled around to find a small girl, with a deep scar under her left eye. She was eyeing them warily and was poised to run.
"I'm Shanks. Nice to meetcha!" The red head smiled, leaning down to get a better look at the small child. She cautiously took a step back, then took off running, vanishing from the two pirate's sight.
"Did she just…" Benn asked, casually lighting up a cigarette.
"Vanish?" Shanks asked, staring at the spot that the little girl had disappeared from. "I can't even sense her…"
Shanks turned to Benn with a wide smile that Benn immediately identified as the 'I've-got-a-stupid-idea' smile.
"Well, this trip's gonna be more fun than I thought!" He remarked, then proceeded to walk into the dark forest full of giant animals, humming a cheery tune under his breath the whole way.
***
Shanks sighed as he contemplated his strategies. He had tried approaching the young 'ghost girl' as his crew had dubbed her. He got several knives thrown at him for the effort. Most people were quite afraid of threatening a Yonko. Obviously she was not.
The odd Haki-shielding abilities were annoying, too. They just made Shanks all the more determined to get her and make her tell him her secrets. Because that was pretty damn cool.
The animals in the forest kept being annoying and attempting to attack him. And by the time he was done with them, the girl was gone.
Another thing he quickly realized was that the girl constantly regenerated herself, which was also pretty cool.
All in all, Shanks chalked it up to a devil fruit. Where ghost girl had got it from, was anyone's guess.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he subconsciously noticed an unfamiliar presence. He quickly whipped around to look at the ghost girl, who had frozen in her tracks, staring at him in fear. She took a step back, fear painting her face.
"Who the hell are you, and why the hell are you following me?" She asked quietly.
Shanks blinked before squatting down. That was a mistake, because she took another step back.
"I'm Shanks." He held out his hand. Ghost girl stared at it for a bit, uncomprehending. "Do you want to be my friend?" Shanks asked.
"Friend? What's that?" She frowned, the picture of innocence. Shanks found it hard to believe she was the same person who threw deadly objects at him regularly.
"It's someone who…" How do you explain what a friend is?
"Someone who you would do anything for." Shanks decided on.
"Isn't that family?" She asked in confusion.
"No, they aren't related to you—"
"Bullshit! You don't need to be related to be a family!" She suddenly yelled out, before quickly calming down.
"Well, some friends are pretty much a family. They're called nakama." Shanks amended. "Other friends are just as important, though."
At the mention of family, Ghost girl touched her arm softly.
"What's your name?" Shanks asked. As cool of a name 'Ghost Girl' was, he doubted she would like to be addressed like that.
"Ruby. Monkey D. Ruby."
As soon as she said 'Monkey' Shanks's jaw dropped in surprise.
"Monkey… As in Monkey D. Garp?!"
"He's my grandfather." She shifted weight from one foot to another, bowing her head so her bangs shadowed her eyes. Finally, Shanks burst out laughing.
"Well, you've got an interesting family!"
"You don't know the half of it…" She mumbled, and if Shanks didn't have super senses, he wouldn't have heard it. He'd question her later.
"Do you wanna go back to the Party's Bar with me, and meet the rest of the crew?" He asked.
"Crew? You're a pirate?" She gasped out, but she definitely wasn't afraid.
"Yup!"
"I wanna be a pirate!"
"Why? Isn't your grandfather a marine?"
"Yeah, he always throws me off a cliff every time I say that… and pirates have the most freedom, that's why!" Ruby proclaimed.
"Well Ruby, you're an interesting child."
He had no idea what he was about to get into.
***
"Hey, Shanks! Do you consider yourself my family?" Ruby asked, holding her right shoulder.
"Well, yeah, I guess. Why, ya little chibi?" Shanks asked, poking her. Ruby responded by pulling up her short sleeved shirt, revealing two tattoos.
"These tattoos symbolize my family. I thought I should add you." Ruby explained, tapping the area under the second tattoo.
"Why does a little chibi like you have tattoos already?" Shanks laughed, and Ruby pouted.
"I'm not a little chibi!" She protested. "Will you be part of my family or not!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. I can have Benn do the tattoo. He does 'em all." Shanks waved his hand to his first mate.
"So you want a tattoo of our symbol?" Benn asked as he looked at the five year old girl.
"Yep! Though can you do it in that special ink that gets bigger when you get bigger?" Ruby asked, rubbing the area where the tattoo would be placed.
"You mean Seicho(Growing) Ink?"
"Yeah, that stuff!"
"Sure, I can mix some into our normal ink. I assume you want the tattoo under the second one?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Let's go to the ship, all my supplies are there." Benn took Ruby by the hand and they walked over to the place where the pirate ship was docked.
***
Ace stared at the girl who had just spent a week out in the forest and came back without a scratch on her. That was practically impossible. That had to be impossible. Yet here she was, and the only evidence that she had been out in the woods was her slightly torn dress. Dadan took one look at her, grumbled about how she was alive, then threw her into the same room as Ace. She backed up against the wall, staring down at her shaking hands, then clenched them into fists. Using the back of one hand, she wiped away a tear that had started leaking.
"WHY DOESN'T IT WORK!" She cried, sinking down to the ground. "Why can't I get hurt? Why do I always fix myself? Why?" She questioned, putting her hands on the floor to steady her shaking body. Ace didn't know what to do. She was too loud to go to sleep with, but he didn't want to hear her self-pity.
"This stupid body of mine… all it does is get in my way!" She growled as she grabbed the skin of her right bicep, obscuring her strange tattoos. "Whatever I do, it never works! Crushing my bones doesn't work. Stabbing myself only dirties the knife! Whatever I do, this stupid body fixes itself without my consent!" She cried.
Ace stared at her. A body that fixes itself no matter what? What kind of body was that?
Ruby cried again, tears dripping down her face as she extended her fingers, changing the nails into claws that could cut steel. She swiped them through her arm, letting the cuts bleed profusely. Ace stared. What was wrong with her? Why did she have claws? Why was she harming herself?
With each strike of the claws against her own skin, the wounds healed, sealing over as if they were never there.
"Why? Why? Why!?" She cried out desperately. "WHY CAN'T I JUST DIE!" With a final sob, she fell to the floor, caked in blood from injuries that were no longer there.
"What am I?" She whispered to herself. "I've lived with this devil's power for as long as I could remember… So what am I?" With a shuddering gasp, she pushed herself up and walked over to the only window in the room, near Ace. She was dripping blood all the way as she gently pulled herself onto the ledge. Slowly, black mist appeared, twisting itself and solidifying into a pair of bat wings.
"I guess I'll never know." She resigned herself in a whisper before taking off to the skies.
***
"I give my life up for the continuation of Ace and Sabo's."
Ace hates that little girl, Ruby. He hated her, how she kept following him, and never took a hint. And now, he hated her even more for killing herself to keep him safe.
"How do you know I'll keep my word, girl?" Bluejam sneered.
"I've eaten a devil fruit. I'll sell for money. Plus, the government will do anything to keep me quiet." She put her hands on her hips.
"Oh, and why's that?" He looked down at the midget girl in front of him. Sabo had to restrain Ace from doing anything rash.
"I know things. I know what happened to Bloody Rose two years ago. I know what happened to Mikazuki Island." She smiled. "I lived there."
"And how do I know this is true?" He glared down at the girl. Ruby raised her arm, letting a small gold bracelet with a red gem glint in the light. "This bracelet used to belong to Bloody Rose. It was only made on Mikazuki Island."
Bluejam's eyes turned greedy. "And Bloody Rose?"
"Who's Bloody Rose?" Ace whispered to Sabo.
"Bloody Rose was a feared Pirates Hunter. Vanished two years ago." Sabo explained, watching the scene in front of him.
"Bloody Rose's real name was Rose D. Summer. Ask anybody on this island what happened to her. They'll tell you the same thing."
"What happened to her?" Bluejam seethed in impatience.
"I killed her." Ruby smirked. "And everybody will say it's true."
Bluejam looked at the honest expression on her face, and nodded.
"If this is true, we'll be back tomorrow for you. Don't escape or we will make good on our plans."
They turned and disappeared. Ruby looked to the bush that Ace and Sabo were hiding in.
"Find a family, will you?"
Those were the last words they ever heard from her.
In the morning, she was gone, dead or in living hell.
Ace and Sabo never forgave themselves.
***
"There." The bar owner placed a bouquet of flowers on the grave, then backed away, drying her tears with her sleeve.
Ace stared at the grave silently. He never really knew her, but her death hurt him so much.
"Ace-kun?" Makino placed her hands on his shoulders. "Do you want to come to the bar and hear her story?"
Ace quietly nodded, and together they walked down to Fuusha village. Ruby's grave, despite never having found a body, was situated on a cliff overlooking the sea. Makino was insistent they put it there. She and Ace were the only ones attending the funeral.
They sit down at Makino's bar, Makino making some food for Ace.
"She and her mother washed up on our shore three years ago. Never told us what happened before that. But anyways, her mother left the island often, so she was left on her own quite commonly."
Ace nodded and slowly took the juice Makino offered him.
"They were quite fun-loving, and quick favorites among the villagers. But one year later, her mother was found dead, and the blame was put on Ruby, since she was found holding the knife."
Ace choked on his drink. "She killed her own mother? Why?" He never knew his own mother, she died in an effort to keep him alive. He couldn't fathom why Ruby would get rid of the person who brought her into the world.
"No, she didn't. What she told me was that her mother killed herself. She told me that she was repeatedly abused, and eventually her mother snapped. Her mother was actually mentally disturbed, and it had started when they arrived on this island."
Ace quietly lowered his eyes. What would it be like to have a mother who tried to hurt you, and then killed herself in front of you, blaming you. No wonder she didn't care about Ace's several murder attempts.
"Nobody believed her, and she became known around here as the 'Demon Child'. She never seemed to smile anymore, and the fact that she was almost always present when somebody died didn't help."
Another demon child? So she was a lot like him then. "Present whenever somebody dies?" He asked.
"Yeah, she liked to wander around the island. Somehow she always noticed when someone was about to die of unnatural causes. Whenever they did die, she'd come in and bury them, then visit their graves on the anniversary of their death. There's a lot of those graves scattered everywhere on this island. If you want, I can take you to one of them later." Makino explained, cleaning a glass.
"Yeah." Was all Ace could say.
"Well, anyways, this all went on until a year ago, when Shanks and his pirates came to this island for a vacation. Shanks brought Ruby out of her shell and the two became friends. He even left her his hat and told her to return it when she became Pirate King. I guess she won't be able to now. I wonder how he took the news…" Makino trailed off, looking out the window, which Ace assumed was a habit of hers.
"Anyways, after her grandfather realized that Red-Hair had been here for a year without him knowing, he dragged her off to live with you. You know the rest." Makino finished, glancing at Ace's face. He had tears slipping down his cheeks without him noticing. She quietly put a hand on him, and slowly said. "Nobody blames you, Ace. She died of her own accord. It's not your fault."
Ace disagreed. Another person had died for the sake of someone as worthless as him.
***
"I think I'll get that little spit-fire over there! Fufufufu!" The tall man, who was probably certifiably insane (Even by Ruby's standards), gestured to Ruby, who was glaring at him.
"Do what you like." She spat out, not shifting from her position.
"Fufufufu! Little brother, come here!" He laughed, gesturing to a tall boy with a nodachi. He hesitantly made his way to the Shichibukai, then walked over to Ruby from the pirate's prompting.
"I'm Trafalgar Law." He said to her.
"Ruby. Monkey D. Ruby." She stated, making eye contact.
"Oh? What's this? A 'D'? How interesting!" Doflamingo, or, as he would later be known as, flamingo bastard, cackled. "I definitely want her now!"
"A 'D'? I don't understand what that is." Law frowned at the thought of not knowing.
"Only a few people know what the 'D' means. I'm not one of them, and I highly doubt anybody else in the room does either." Ruby looked at the older boy, making him slightly uncomfortable.
"Fufufufu! Quite, quite interesting. Little brother, the 'D' is a bloodline passed on through will rather than actual blood. Most usually end up changing the world in some way or another. Like Gol D. Roger for instance!" Flamingo Bastard had a rare 'explanation' moment, which was quickly shut up.
"A bloodline passed through will? Strange…" He muses, before looking at the quiet girl in front of him.
***
"My daughter's name was Monkey D. Ruby." Dragon quietly. "She vanished off the face of the earth three months ago."
Sabo took a deep, shuddering breath.
"Well, you see, the reason she's gone," Sabo refused to say dead. "Is because she gave up her life to save me and my brother Ace."
Dragon looked at the letter Sabo gave him one more time before handing it back to the boy.
"Thank you for informing me of her fate." His cold mask slipped on again, and Sabo nodded quietly, looking back at the letter they had found the day after Ruby vanished.
Dear Ace and Sabo,
I have never been allowed a family. I killed my own mother, and her last words were for me to stay alone, forever. I never knew what it was like to be loved, or have a place to belong. I guess I never will. I'm not a fool, despite how I act. I know what being sold into slavery means. I'll probably be killed in the next few months. So, as my final request, I want you two to do what I never could. Find yourself a family and a place to belong. Live on. Find nakama that will love you for who you are.
—Ruby
***
It's only been two years. Two years since she gave her life up for those two boys. She wonders how they're doing now. She was stuck in hell, with her only way out being the kind boy with the nodachi. Law, he said his name was. He told her that the Doflamingo guy, the guy who decided to buy her, made him his younger brother.
This is Law. He's three years older than you, and from now on, he's your older brother.
She suppressed the memories. She can't risk losing concentration. It's do-or-die out here, even worse than with the mountain bandits. Those guys weren't so bad, but here…
She's been forced to compete in tournaments for the watching noble's sick pleasures. Kill or be killed, live life on the edge, pray you'll make it out alive to see the next day.
A sharp hit to the face jars her into reality. She retaliated with some crackling energy, which, with a little effort, she directed at her opponent. He falls over, dead or knocked out. She couldn't care less either way. She never even knew his name. Hopefully, that'd be the last round she'd have to fight. If she was boring enough, she wouldn't be called back. But on the other hand, if she didn't provide enough entertainment, she'd be whipped for putting on a poor show. To the disgusting nobles, it was all some show. They probably didn't even realize that real people's lives were at stake, instead betting on who would make it out alive.
Another reason to hate them.
Those seem to be piling up more and more, now.
***
"Law!" Ruby gasped as she ran up to him. Law smiled briefly before bracing himself as she ran over and hugged him tightly. He ran his fingers through her hair, then looked at her arm, where there were bandages wrapped around it. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked over at the injury. Ruby laughed and undid it, much to his displeasure, before revealing that no it was not an injury. Instead, Law found that she had added a tattoo to her arm, the pirate mark that he had decided he would be using.
Law grinned as he touched the tattoo. He knew what the ink on her skin meant. It meant she had accepted that person into her family. There were only four tattoos there. The first was what she had said was her own personal pirate mark, what with the straw-hat and all. The second was her mother's symbol. The third was that of the Yonko, Red-Hair, whom she said was almost a father to her. So the fourth was that of her brother's crew. He smiled and hugged her back.
He was her older brother now. No question about it.
***
The small eleven year old girl wheezed as she clutched her parasol tightly to her chest. She opened and pulled it above her head, squeezing her eyes shut.
Now or never…
She would be punished harshly if she was caught. So would the friend who helped her escape. She turned to the older boy next to her, who gave her a reassuring glance. He nodded, and she smiled.
"I'll find you." She promised. He just grinned and ruffled her hair.
"I'm sure you will."
She slowly turned her back on the only person she could consider family, despite not being blood related, and unfolded her wings. Jumping off the roof, she streaked through the sky, quickly bending the light around her, rendering her invisible.
Promise me this.
Tears streaked her eyes as she remembered his kind actions, and her promise to him.
Never look back.
And so, she didn't turn her head to catch a final glimpse at her savior, partner, guiding light, helper, care-taker…
… Brother.
***
"Law-san! What happened!" A woman asked as Law looked up at his so-called 'Older Brother'.
"Ruby committed suicide." He explained.
"WHAT!" The woman yelled. "But she's one of the most entertaining fighters there is! She can't die!"
"She jumped off the roof and into the water. She's dead." Law announced coldly. It was half of the truth.
"Oh well! I'll find another like her sometime!" Doflamingo cackled, and Law felt his insides clench. Ruby was a special person, and she was his sworn sister. They were talking about her like some curious oddity.
"If that is all, may I go?" Law asked, annoyed.
"Oh, yes, of course!" Doflamingo waved his hand. Law took a sharp intake and walked away.
**
A name. She needed a name. She couldn't use Monkey D. Ruby, that would set the government, Celestial dragons, and her tormentors after her in seconds. Rose D. Ruby was out of the question as well. But she needed a way to capture the attention of her father, the Dragon. But it has to keep everybody else from getting it…
What did only she and her father know?
Bloody Rose was her mother, but she didn't know what she could do, since Summer was so famous.
Mikazuki Island? No, still too famous. But wait. Rose D. Summer. Mikazuki (Crescent)
Crescent Rose.
Yes. That was her name now. Not Monkey D. Ruby. Not Rose D. Ruby. Crescent Rose. Perfect.
World looked out, Crescent Rose was coming.