On a calm and sunny day in the Grand Line, the sea was quiet. The sky was clear, and the wind was gentle. The giant ship Moby Dick floated peacefully on the waves. It had been nearly a year since the great Summit War, and things had finally started to calm down.
Thanks to Yuta's sudden appearance back then, not only were Ace and Whitebeard saved, but the entire Whitebeard Pirates had escaped death. Well, there were certainly casualties, but not as many. The Marines had taken a huge blow, both in pride and power. Even worse, in a final moment of emotion, Garp had unleashed a powerful attack on Yuta—not to kill him, but because he couldn't bear the mixed feelings of seeing both Luffy and Ace saved. That attack had destroyed Marineford completely.
The Marines were forced to rebuild from scratch. But even as the Whitebeard Pirates sailed away safely, the Marines didn't let go. They chased them for months.
Every member of the Whitebeard Pirates had their bounty raised. Marco's bounty increased. Ace's bounty became one of the highest known in Whitebeard Pirates. And Whitebeard, now alive and recovering, became a living legend all over again. Higher bounty than even Roger.
But the biggest shock was Yuta.
No one knew where he came from. He wasn't a pirate. He didn't belong to any known crew. Yet he stood against all three Admirals, fought toe-to-toe with them, not only survived but even wounded them much, especially in the case of Kizaru. His first bounty was set at a number so high that even the Yonko raised their eyebrows.
The problem? Yuta had vanished. Disappeared from the world. The Marines searched the seas for him, but they found nothing. Because Yuta wasn't in their world anymore. Of course, they didn't know that.
On this quiet day, the Whitebeard Pirates were relaxing. Some were fishing, some were laughing, and Ace was napping on the deck. And most were drinking and being pirate-like as they were.
Suddenly, a loud boom shook the entire ship.
BOOM!
Something had fallen from the sky and crashed into the center of the Moby Dick.
Everyone jumped to their feet, ready for battle. Even their Observation Haki didn't catch what that thing was.
"What was that?!" Marco shouted as he flew into the air with his wings out.
When the dust settled, they saw two figures lying on the deck. One was a girl, black hair with green shades in them and many wounds on her body, however, she was yet very beautiful. Though she was unknown as it comes. The other was a boy whom many of them recognised immediately.
Ace's eyes widened. "No way…"
The boy slowly stood up and rubbed his head.
"Motherfuc...."
"YUTA?!" Marco and Ace shouted together.
Yuta, who just woke up, almost flinched at the high-pitched tone. He hated someone disturbing him when he's asleep. His memories of where he was and how he came here were fuzzy at best; however, they were closely coming back to him. He looked around, blinking. "Huh? Marco? Oh man… not again…"
"Why again? This time I didn't even agree to transfer," Yuta almost shouted as a tick mark formed on his head.
The girl beside him groaned. And now was the first time he saw there was someone beside him as well. When he looked around, his mind suddenly had a computational malfunction.
He looked back at Marco and others, definitely characters from One Piece world, meaning that he was back to this endless sea again, so how come Maki was here?
Whitebeard walked to the edge of the deck, letting out a loud laugh. "Gurarara! Boy, you're late. Asking me to teach you and then running away only to see your face after this time." Whitebeard's face shifted from calm to god knows what, which Yuta could not identify.
Ace ran up to Yuta. "You're alive! Where the hell did you go?!"
Yuta scratched his head and gave a tired smile. "It's a long story," he said, still trying to get out of his groggy state.
He took his time before he finally started computing again.
He turned to Marco, who was still hovering beside him with his blue phoenix flames glowing gently.
"Marco… can you tell me where we are right now? And… how long has it been since the war at Marineford?"
Marco landed on the deck, folding his wings. Confused, but he still answered, "We're deep in the Grand Line. And… it's been about a year since then."
Yuta's eyes slightly rose, but he wasn't that surprised seeing how this kind of time difference between worlds is very normal.
"A year…?" He sighed. The further he goes from his main world, the bigger the time difference grows.
It became clear to him—time didn't flow the same way for him outside of his main world either. He could be older seeing how much time he has spent in other worlds, yet he still looked quite close to 16 at best.
That's when something else hit him. He quickly turned back toward the girl who had fallen with him—Maki. She was still out cold but breathing steadily. He knelt beside her and checked her pulse.
"Maki… why in the world is she here?" he asked with much irritation on his face.
Bits and pieces of his memory started coming back, flashing in his mind. The battle with Sukuna. The moment he stabbed himself to activate Prime Time. The burning energy, the shockwave, the world-shaking clash. His domain. The overwhelming power.
His head throbbed.
He reached for Rika.
"Rika… come out," he said softly.
But nothing happened.
He called again.
Still nothing.
"Guess I wasn't able to save everyone after all. So this is where our journey ends, huh." In his grip was her scarf—tattered, stained, but familiar. The only thing left of her.
By no means was this the first time he had lost someone, but it's never easy.
"..."
xxx
Please Consider Donating Power Stones if you like the Chapter.
"Thank you Very Much for All Your Support"
If you want to read up to 20+ Chapters in advance, check my Patre on
Patreon.com/Kamidemond