The ship was drifting without a destination. Despite their best effort they were basically lost in the middle of the New World and could not do anything about it.

This situation was troubling for the people here, not due to food as the ship had some of it and the fanalis kids could easily swim in this ocean to hunt some of the sea kings around for food. The problem was water.

One must understand, this ship was hastily prepared by the marines when news of what was happening in Mare Goise reached them and as such had little in the way of drinkable water.

It was actually funny, they were surrounded at all sides by water but they were all thirsty to the point some could barely even move anymore. The fanalis tried their best in hunting sea kings, hoping that the others could at least drink the blood that was there, but it still was not enough.

In this ship there were older people, they were already quite old and were all becoming sick of dehydration for the time they spent in the ship. The boy and the others were trying their best, but they were just kids despite being by far the strongest in this ship.

"What do we do, boss?" Lo'lo questioned the boy who was sitting on a corner and trying his hardest to think, but his throat also was hurting due to they lacking proper water and he could only shake his head, not knowing what to say.

The nameless kid was trying, he was doing his best. Of the entire ship he made it a point, he was the one who went out the most amongst everyone else. He searched amongst the things he stole from the Tenryubito more times than he cares to count to see if he could find anything that could help, he had given some of his own water to those who needed more, and it still was not enough.

He was the strongest in the ship. He had released from the chains many of those inside this very ship, getting them out of their previous condition only to be in this ship that was slowly turning into a floating coffin. He even wanted to blame himself more than once for taking so many treasures with himself but not something as simple as water.

He was a fool, a stupid person, a kid.

Bitting his lips hard when he saw some of the kids amongst his race feeling the effects of dehydration and suffering under his watch, he felt as if someone was pushing a dagger in his chest and twisting it for good measure. He hated it, he utterly hated being this incapable of doing anything.

He even thought of those fruits, those that the fatso Tenryubito had that were said to be too powerful even by their standards. Of all that he had right now only those few fruits things were left without him knowing what they could do. He even tried using the other weapons and none of it had anything to do with water or could help in this situation. The closest to being possible to help was actually one of the swords he had in hand, the sword apparently having eaten the Space Space fruit and being able to manipulate space.

It was quite a shock when the boy realized that and he tried many things with it, including discovering he could create something like gateways between space. He thought of using said skill to go somewhere to get the water everyone wanted, but he had yet to master this sword and he was not able to move that far away. He also feared to teleport and ending up in the middle of nowhere and falling into the sea. If that happened he would be okay but the sword would become ineffective for sure and then he was not sure what he would do to get back in the ship or even if he would be able to get back at all.

So he looked at those fruits. There was a total of six fruits, the first one was a dangerous red that looked almost as crimson as blood but not quite and seemed like a berry, the second was jade colored and looked like an apple, the third was a brown banana with crystal-like places in it, the fourth was a pitch-black pineapple with red spots, the fifth was a grayish avocado, the sixth one was a blue watermelon the size of a fist, and the final one was a golden apple. Looking at them he wondered if he should try it, even if it would mean that he would no longer have any hope of achieving the peak his race should reach.

Ideally, he would not need to take any right now, but, as the eldest of his race and for the others' well-being, he truly thought of doing it regardless. If, for nothing else, to help those of his race and the others he cared about.

He had discussed it with his friends and they all told him not to do that, saying how they knew he wanted to one day show the world the might of the fanalis again, that if he does that he would not be able to do so. He had already told everyone of his dreams in the past, of being the freest man in the world, the one to bring his race back to prominence and make a name for himself.

If he eats any of these fruits now people will not remember him as a fanalis, but as a devil fruit user, something he didn't wish. He wouldn't mind eating one of the fruit if he already reached the peak of his race, the point where his fanalis traits were fully displayed and he would be able to show the world the might of his race even if he had a powerful devil fruit in hand.

He was utterly conflicted. He didn't know what to do in the slightest and the others could see that clear as day.

"Boss, would it be okay if I was the one to take it?" Juvia said as she looked at the fruits. When she spoke this the boy finally broke out of the mental state he was in. He was so focused in what he could do that he didn't even think of others wanting to help in dealing with this too.

One must know, Juvia was a very unusual girl. Amongst the slaves of their little group she was likely the weakest physically and was not particularly good at anything, she was left mostly forgotten even amongst the slaves, many judging that she would likely die soon enough after she had arrived in Mare Goise and didn't bother with her. She was scrawny and weak, she couldn't really do much of anything right overall.

She only survived because of the boy's help. It wasn't anything much, even for the conditions they were at, but it meant a lot to her at the time and he was a beacon of hope for her. After her work, he would always be there, able to give her what comfort he could and treated her not as an object but as a person.

One must understand, being treated as a human in that hell was more than most could even dream about. It was a near impossibility, a dream within a dream, yet the boy did it to her and others. She had seen, during the escape, him facing so many of the knights trying to hunt them down, releasing others like her from their chains, facing the marines to open a path for them to escape, he did what she could only dream she too could have done.

So, now that he was in trouble, she decided she wanted to help. Even if she couldn't do much, she could at least eat one of those devil fruits in his place, help everyone in getting the water they all desperately needed.

The boy looked at her. He thought about it for a long few seconds before deciding to bite the bullet.

He only needed at least one of those fruits for himself, the others would have to be given to others anyway as he couldn't be expected to it them all anyway. And he trusted that Juvia would not be someone that would do anything against him, he knew her well enough to be able to say such a thing with confidence.

As such, he nodded and spoke.

"Fine, take the blue fruit. Of the ones we have, it might have something to do with water as far as we can tell."

There was no real higher reason for him to give her that fruit instead of the others besides the color. This was ultimately a gamble anyway, if it worked then great and if it didn't then there was nothing to be done about it. As such he would simply use something as stupidly simplistic as the fact it was blue like water as the reasoning for choosing that fruit for her.

If that one didn't work then he would give another to someone else and the last one he would eat then and there even if it would stop him from obtaining the strength his race ought to have.

Taking the fruit in her hands Juvia looked at it for a few seconds before opening her mouth and taking a bite.

"Bleurgh. This tastes terrible." She said as she took the bite of the fruit. Even swallowing that bite seemed to make her want to react, she clearly did not like that at all. However, she ate the fruit to the end despite complaining all the way.

When she finished the boy didn't ask if she was feeling any different or if she knew what she could do, he had something else of even greater importance to ask.

"... Was the taste that bad?" He asked, thinking that he would one day too have to eat one of these fruits and he really hoped it wasn't that bad.

"It tastes like if you take a piece of rotten meat, put it in a blender with shit, and sprinkled pee in it. It is the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten." She admitted and that makes him give a nervous chuckle, thinking that when it was time for him to eat one such fruit he would make sure to be dead drunk just so he didn't remember whatever the taste of it might be.

It is good to think ahead, after all.

After taking care of asking a very important question the boy finally recomposed himself.

"So, do you feel anything?"

Juvia thought for a while as she tried to feel if there was any change, closing her eyes and concentrating, and concentrating, and continuing to do so for a few seconds until she opened her eyes and spoke.

"Sorry, I don't feel... Why is everyone taller than me now?" She asked in doubt.

In truth, everyone was staring at her in utter shock as she was indeed lower than the others, but not because she shrunk but instead because she simply turned her legs into pure water.

To say chaos was in order was an understatement. She didn't have a single clue on how to control her powers and it showed. It was all very confusing and she needed a long time to even be able to try anything properly and return to her normal size and body.

It took another full day for her to even be able to try and use her newfound abilities and when she managed to create water from her body everyone in the ship celebrated as now they no longer would dehydrate to death. Water rarely ever tasted as sweet as it did at that time for most of them.

It took her another week before Juvia was capable of truly using her abilities and be confident on them as well as discovering some important matters regarding the fruit she had just eaten.

The fruit she has just eaten is one of the Catastrophe class fruits, the Mizu Mizu no Mi. The water logia and one of, if not THE most unique Akuma no mi of them all after some time passed and she began experimenting with her fruit's powers and figured something about it.

She could move water, any water, including the ocean water. Not only that, but she also discovered she was basically immune to ocean water when she decided to test as the ocean water, when close to hitting her, would turn into simple water and not affect her anymore. That doesn't mean things like Kairoseki wouldn't affect her as they likely would, but that she would never need to fear to fall into the ocean.

'With this, I will definitely be able to help him!' She thought to herself as she clenched her fist with excitement in her eyes. She felt confident she would definetly become very strong with this in the future and when she was all excited she was petted in the head by the boy. He smiled while looking at her and told her thanks for doing this, that she was his lucky star.

When she heard this, despite still being way too young being merely 7 years old, one could almost see hearts where her eyes were supposed to be. One must know that, back in that hell, Gild would sometimes sing love serenades (especially when thinking of the woman he loved) and she would always love those songs the most. And right now she could almost hear those songs being sung in her head (to be perfectly honest Gild WAS singing that nearby, not that Juvia realized and just thought it was all in her hear) resulting in her becoming as she is right now.

However, when a certain cat-eared girl jumped on the boy's back Juvia's eyes turned from hearts into daggers and one could almost see the water around the ship turning into tentacles rising into the air at her rage.

"What are you doing?!" Juvia screeched at Pitou who just smirked.

"I was going to ask him if he has a fruit I could eat as well. It is unfair that only you get some crazy powers while I continue without anything." Pitou said and the boy put a finger in his chin in thought, not paying attention to what was happening anymore before clicking his fingers.

He remembered one that could be useful for their current situation for sure and Pitou would likely enjoy having.

"Wait a moment, I will go grab one." He spoke as he moved to his room. It was close by and one of the fanalis kids was 'stationed' in front of it as a guard to stop anyone from trying anything.

As he went there Juvia and Pitou began to discuss and it turned quite quickly into a catfight between the two. On the side, one could see Uma looking at the scene curiously and asking Gild who had just finished a song.

"So, do you think I should stop that, moo~~?" She asked and Gild chuckled.

"Honestly, I wouldn't bother. Leave them to have their little time there, from what I see there should be plenty of chance and necessity for you to intervene in the future so you should just appreciate when you can relax for now." Gild said with a chuckle, thinking himself lucky for only having one girl that liked him and he liked in return.

It certainly seemed like much less of a hassle than what the boy was shaping up to get in the future. On the side, Lo'lo was smirking at the whole scene and two more of the fanalis were also laughing a bit at this whole thing that was happening. Now that they got some water thanks to Juvia the mood of everyone on the ship improved a great deal.

However, time passed, and passed, and passed, and the boy didn't return to the deck of the ship.

Getting worried over what was happening. Gild went to look to see what was going on only to see something he completely didn't expect. The figure of the boy looking down on clear anger at two six years old girl, both being skinny with long, unkempt brown hair with one almost pissing herself and the other with a smile on her face despite trembling all over. On the wall, one could see one of those who escaped with them, a human or what might have been a human as he was now more a smear in the wall than anything else.

"... Well, what the hell is going on here?"

---

AN:

The pool is still ongoing, and in case anyone is wondering these are the disaster fruits that are there right now:

- The first one (crimson berry) - Destr Destr no Mi (Paramecia Destruction fruit)

- The second (jade colored and looked like an apple) - Fund Fund no Mi (Paramecia Elemental Forces fruit)

- The third (brown banana with crystal-like places in it) - Tsuchi Tsuchi no Mi (Logia Earth fruit)

- The fourth (pitch black pineapple with red spots) - Aku Aku no Mi (Mythical Zhoan Devil fruit, like the devils from Nanatsu no Taizai)

- The fifth (grayish avocado) - Hito Hito no Mi: mode Spriggan (Mythical Zhoan Spriggan fruit)

- The sixth one (blue watermelon the size of a fist) - Mizu Mizu no Mi (Logia Water Fruit)

-The seventh one (golden aple) - Ryu Ryu no Mi: mode Celestial Dragon (Mythical Zhoan Devil Fruit, for shits and giggles)

This means there are two of each kind and in case anyone is wondering about the Spriggan, do remember that spriggans are the reverse of fairies that use light and life energy to bring good luck.

The MC can have one of those six, well five to be honest as the Mizu Mizu fruit belongs now to Juvia. Ideas for what can happen in the future are more than welcome and any suggestion is appreciated. Especially for the name of the crew and other such things.