Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is purely a fanfic for enjoyment.
Cross-over from various games, books, anime, manga, and movies.
The familiar characters you see here belong to their respected authors and owners.
"Speech"
Time*
Chapter 88: Downtime Activity
The next day*
I hold the Tyrant's Uniqueness in my left hand, then look at the 22 Cards of Blasphemy continuing to circle around me. My gaze shifts back to the Tyrant's Uniqueness, then toward the Chaos Sea within the Cards of Visionary, Sun, Tyrant, White Tower, and Hanged Man, its presence far more obvious than before.
I look back at the Tyrant's Uniqueness one more time, then sigh.
At this point, the Sefirot aren't even bothering to hide it anymore. Nonetheless, thanks to the two Devil Fruits, I now have a much shorter timeframe to reach Sequence 0 in either the Tyrant Pathway or the Hanged Man Pathway. I already possess both Uniquenesses and potentially all the Beyonder Characteristics I need.
The only real obstacle left is progressing through each Sequence properly, digesting every potion step by step through the Acting Method instead of trying to recklessly skip ahead.
I transform the Tyrant's Uniqueness into a white right glove to match the left and put it on. Then I switch the Error's Uniqueness into a crystal monocle and place it over my right eye, feeling its presence lock into place.
I really hope the Sefirot aren't trying to prevent me from reaching Above the Sequence or, worse, intentionally pushing me toward the most dangerous route possible to become one.
Exiting the log cabin, I arrive just in time to come across the sight of Momoyo and Alucard toying around with a bunch of random pirates who never even got a single scene in the canon timeline. So, this is purely a random encounter rather than anything important to the original plot.
Not to mention, Fate Lust has been locked up within the City of Calamity since yesterday, having already been converted into a soldier under the Sefirot's command. Whatever is happening here clearly has nothing to do with it.
I raise my right hand into the shape of a handgun and aim at one of the random pirates. With a snap of my fingers, I fire an Air Bullet—an invisible projectile of compressed air that should normally possess power and speed comparable to a round fired from a custom revolver.
Yet this one goes far beyond the limits it should have at my current Sequence.
The Air Bullet crosses the distance in an instant and lands a direct headshot. More precisely, the impact tears through most of the pirate's upper body, leaving little more than his hips and legs standing before they collapse.
With both the Fool Pathway's Uniqueness and the Tyrant Pathway's Uniqueness under my control, I can push the Air Bullet far beyond its normal limits, drastically increasing its power and speed while controlling its trajectory to an unnatural degree of precision.
However, I'll have to make a few adjustments to the power itself, considering a good chunk of the pirates' ship shatters from the force of my Air Bullet after it kills that random pirate. That is definitely far more collateral damage than I intended from a single shot.
20 minutes later*
"So, should I ask why you chose such a large ship for us to use, Alucard? And why this one? It's full of holes, too. How is it even floating in the first place?" I stare at the stolen, broken ship in disbelief.
It resembles the stereotypical image of a ghost ship, old and worn down by time. The sails are torn and tattered, while moss and barnacles cling to various parts of the hull. The mast is designed like a clock tower, making the whole vessel look even stranger. The lower front sail bears the name "FLYING DUTCHMAN," while the upper sail shows a pirate's Jolly Roger: a fanged skull with two cutlasses in place of crossbones, their blades pointed downward. The figurehead carries the same skull-and-swords design.
The Flying Dutchman is a large ship, but it is also full of holes. Even from a distance, I can still see water pouring in. Somehow, against all reason, it continues to float.
"I have the souls of the dead supporting the ship and keeping it afloat." Alucard says like it's the most normal thing in the world. "Ever since I ate that fat woman, I've had better control over souls themselves, and I have a bunch of them inside me. Normally, I'd use them to disguise my appearance, outright use the skills they possessed when they were alive, or simply have them die in my place." She casually gestures toward the Flying Dutchman. "Sure, I could bring them out as soldiers under my command even back then, but that required a lot more effort on my part to keep them under control. But now?" Alucard grins. "Easy as breathing."
Huh, I honestly forgot that, unlike Big Mom, who can only steal the souls of those who fear her and implant them into inanimate objects to create Homies, Alucard doesn't need anything like that. She simply kills and devours her victims, keeping their souls captive within herself afterward. Nor does she need to create Homies like Big Mom does. The souls themselves are already hers to command and use directly.
"By the way, are we not taking the log cabin with us, Chikao?" Momoyo asks as she grabs the last dead pirate by the ankle, swings the corpse over the edge of the cliff, and lets it drop into the sea with a heavy splash.
"I mean..." I glance at the log cabin, then back at the Flying Dutchman. "Technically, we could just tear down the cabin's walls and use the lumber to patch up the ship. After that, we can move all our stuff aboard."
"That's not what I meant." Momoyo sweatdrops. "I mean, this ship is huge. We could probably just put the whole log cabin on deck without taking it apart."
"Done." Alucard says proudly.
By the time any of us realize what she's done, the log cabin is already completely dismantled, leaving no chance for anyone to stop her. The walls have been taken apart into usable sections, while all of our belongings sit off to the side, neatly packed into sealed cargo and ready to be loaded onto the Flying Dutchman.
"Alright, move it!" Alucard orders. Her shadow spreads across the ground as the souls within it emerge one after another. Without hesitation, they begin picking up the dismantled walls and cargo, carrying everything toward the Flying Dutchman.
"If it makes you feel any better, I can just build a new log cabin exactly like the one Alucard just dismantled." I place a hand on Momoyo's shoulder.
Momoyo's smile stiffens into something dangerously forced. A vein throbs at her forehead as one eye twitches, her fingers slowly curling into a fist while she fixes the smug-looking Alucard with a glare sharp enough to make her irritation obvious.
I just shake my head at the two of them, then turn and make my way toward the Flying Dutchman. The damp sea breeze brushes against my face as the smell of saltwater, wet wood, and old moss grows stronger with every step. Waves slap against the battered hull while the ship's worn timbers creak above me.
The next day*
"Chikao." Momoyo calls out to me, her tone carrying a mix of curiosity and mild impatience as I sit on the wooden railing of the Flying Dutchman, a fishing rod in my hands.
"Yes, Momoyo?" I reply, keeping my eyes on the water as I give the fishing rod a couple of light tugs, testing the tension on the line.
"We're out at sea. It's just you, Alucard, Bon Clay, and me on this ship, along with a bunch of ghosts—sorry, souls." Momoyo rolls her eyes when one of the souls under Alucard's control gives her a long, offended stare. "It's already been a few hours since morning, and here you are fishing." She gestures toward the open sea around us. "Instead of, I don't know, taking us somewhere exciting? We could go fight some pirates, pick a fight with the marines, anything."
"Well, I'm not really fishing for fish." I said to Momoyo as I reeled in the line and lifted the hook out of the water, revealing the bait dangling from it.
A pineapple.
"I'm trying my luck at fishing up a Devil Fruit with this." I let the ridiculous sight hang there for a moment before continuing. "Of course, if you want, I can send you, Alucard, and Bon Clay somewhere more exciting while I stay behind and watch over the Flying Dutchman. You three can go pick whatever fights you want." I give Momoyo a small smile before swinging the line outward and sending the pineapple-tipped hook splashing back into the sea.
"I said we." Momoyo steps closer and slips her arms around me from behind, pressing herself gently against my back as she rests her chin on my shoulder. "I know you want Alucard and me to have the spotlight, but that's only when we're in public." Her voice softens near my ear as her embrace tightens just a little. "Outside of that, I want to be with my boyfriend too. You, Chikao Fukui. After all, I left the place I'd called home for years because I wanted to travel with you. So don't keep trying to send me off somewhere else when I want to stay by your side."
"Hm. Fair enough. Alright, let's go do something fun before we head back into public and work on increasing your status in the world." I start reeling the fishing line back in, the hook gradually breaking through the surface of the water. I stare at it for a second.
The pineapple is gone.
"...Dang. I was going to eat that."
Hours later*
"Chikao. Why are we on an island filled with goats?" Momoyo asks, looking at me, completely confused.
Before I can answer, Momoyo glances to the side just in time to see Alucard crouched in front of one of the goats, staring it down like the two of them are having some kind of serious disagreement.
Then Alucard suddenly slaps it across the face.
The goat's head jerks to the side before it slowly turns back toward Alucard. Apparently offended, it suddenly lunges forward and tries to bite her.
Alucard responds with a casual hand chop to its neck.
The goat's head drops clean off.
"Master! I got us some fresh goat meat for lunch!" Alucard calls out to me cheerfully, completely ignoring the blood spraying across her clothes and face from the headless goat beside her.
Alucard looks far too proud of herself.
"Honestly? I kind of feel like eating goat more than anything else right now. I would've taken us to an island with people around so we could get something properly cooked, but after thinking about it..." I glance toward Alucard. "People would probably react very badly because of your bounty."
I give Alucard a thumbs-up before looking back at Momoyo, finally answering her earlier question.
"Okay." Momoyo raises an eyebrow at me, clearly still not convinced. "So, after lunch, are we actually going somewhere else?"
"How do you feel about going to the islands in the sky?" I grin at Momoyo.
She stares at me, somehow looking even more confused than before.
"Actually, now that I think about it, I probably should've taken us there instead. I'm kind of curious what sky fish taste like." I rub my chin thoughtfully while watching Alucard already start preparing the goat for cooking.