Chapter 18: A power in the shadows convinces a mother

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-Bell-mere POV:

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"Ugh! What...?!"

I opened my eyes abruptly at the hurried sound of my heart beating and the pain I was feeling through my whole body right now. Cold sweat started running down through my back, and a horrible headache assaulted my head just a few moments after waking up...

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Soon, my own heart started beating incredibly fast to the point I thought I could have a heart attack, even my breathing became rougher and hurried than before, as if craving for every bit of oxygen in the surroundings.

Finally, after some seconds that felt like hours to me, my heart rate and my breathing started slowing down to the point it could only look like I just did a lot of exercise.

"Huff...Huff... Where... am I?" After regulating my own breathing, I tried recognizing my surroundings. A white bed and many medic tools scattered everywhere, along with many pieces of metal and a lot of wires scattered on the floor next to my bed... wait, is that blood?

"What the...?!" Amazed by the amount of blood scattered everywhere around the room, my bed being in the center of it, I then started trying to remember everything that happened while I kept grabbing my head with both of my hands.

"That's right, NAMI, NOJIKO!!!" I tried getting up, but to no avail as my legs didn't listen to me in the slightest, moreover, after moving a bit while trying to get up a sharp pain in my heart struck me.

"Argh...! What the...?!"

I lifted the blankets that covered my body to see what had hurt me that much, and after that I saw many bandages covering my chest area, more specifically the part where my heart was...

"I survived...? Did Nako save me and then treated my wound...?! I never knew he was so skilled to cure a heart injure... I guess I underestimated him... But Nojiko... Nami.... Hey, is someone else here?!" I tried screaming for help to see if anyone was there to tell me what happened after I fainted. 

(A/N: Nako is the doctor of Cocoyashi village)

Suddenly, I started hearing steps from outside coming towards the room. Probably Nako heard my scream and is coming to see me.

*Click*

"Nako, What happened to Nami and Nojiko?!" 

"Who the hell are you calling Nako?"

Huh?

The person standing at the door wasn't Nako, nor anyone I have ever seen in my whole life... It was a kid with black hair and red eyes that was holding a book in his hands and kept looking at me like I was his worst enemy.

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-Sid POV: 

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Bell-mere that has finally woken up after her operation a few days ago, looked at me dumbfounded expression on her face. Probably because I wasn't exactly who she expected me to be.

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"..."

"Who are you...? Where's Nako?"

"Who the heck is Nako...?"

"..."

I mean, I don't exactly remember Everything of One piece... was there a person called Nako in Cocoyashi village? 

Oh, Maybe he was a mob character!!

Or maybe I just don't remember him at all...

"He is the doctor of Cocoyashi village, I mean, isn't this his clinic?" Bell-mere that seemed perplexed at the fact that I didn't know that guy explained to me his identity.

Ah, there was actually a guy like that!... He was the one that tattooed Nami and treated Zoro's wounds after fighting Arlong's crew... I think...

"This is my ship, and I'm the one that treated you"

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"You...? But you're just a kid..."

"I might be 10, but I can crush boulders with my fists and cut entire ships in half with the power of my sword. Treating you wasn't really that hard"

No not really, It was hard as hell... But I can't just tell her that...

"Yeah of course, now kid, tell me who is exactly the owner of this place? I have important things to do"

"Sigh..."

I took a pencil from my pocket and slashed apart a piece of thick metal that was lying on the floor. Then after that, I tossed the pencil at the dumbfounded Bell-mere for her to check that it wasn't really a magic trick or some shit like that.

"How did you... That metal... Huh?"

"Now, Miss Bell-mere, I will explain you your situation and answer all the questions you may have. Currently, you have been transplanted a lot of mechanical parts that cover and operate certain parts of your heart that were damaged previously after receiving a bullet fired by Arlong. It took me a while, but after performing the operation perfectly I managed to bring you back to life with a now perfectly functional cyborg like heart... Any questions?"

"EEEEEEEEEEEH...?!"

"Ugh... There's no need to shout like that, besides, that is not a question"

"You mean... I'm a cyborg now?!"

"Unfortunately, no. Although I could have liked to add a few hidden guns in your legs and arms, as well as laser eyes, my companion protested against it when I mentioned it... And I don't know why, after all, who doesn't want hidden guns to suddenly appear from his arms whenever there's danger?"

Stupid Kuina and his stupid Morals...

Buhuu~ Look at me, I'm Kuina! You shouldn't add weapons to someone else's body without asking for permission first~

Sigh...

"The only part from your body that actually changed were some parts of your heart that were replaced with an advanced mechanism that I invented and that made it start beating once again without any problem... Since then, it took you approximately a week to wake up from your semi-unconscious state"

"You mean I slept for one entire WEEK?! What happened to Nami and Nojiko then?!"

"They're fine, maybe not in an optime mental condition, but speaking about injures and things like that, then they are fine. After you 'died' Nami was kidnapped and extorted to become one of Arlong's crew after they discovered her incredible ability in navigating and mappi-"

"What?! Then we need to go and help them! I can't allow Nami to suffer that kind of treatment!"

Sigh... Convincing Bell-mere will be a hundred times harder than convincing Kuina, mothers can't be underestimated after all...

"That's the thing, we won't be helping Nami, you included of course"

"What?!"

"You see... I have what you may call knowledge from the future. I know what's going to happen to some extent, and I know what important events will happen that will lead to the future I saw... You died Bell-mere, and I mean it literally, If it wasn't for me knowing you could die at that place, then you could have just stayed dead forever... That was your destiny. However, it was a destiny that I chose to change just for my personal satisfaction and because I considered that it couldn't really affect greatly at the future if I handled it properly..."

"I don't care! I won't allow Nami to suffer that kind of treatment just for the sake of that so supposed 'Future' you saw!"

"Then what if I told you that Nami is involved in that future as well? What if I told you that Nami needs to live through this for the sake of meeting his best friends, and living a beautiful life in which she will find absolute happiness? Would you be willing to throw her future just for the sake of helping her now?"

"But what if they kill Nami?!"

"They won't, now that Nami is part of Arlong's crew she will be under his protection as Arlong believes that everyone in his crew must be treated nicely, and although he hates humans, when it comes to someone from his crew he will never mistreat them. Unless it is completely necessary. I'm pretty sure that even if Nami tried to kill him in various ways like poisoning, or hiring someone to kill Arlong, he couldn't even flinch as his arrogance stops him from considering any human a danger"

Or that is as far as I know...

"How can I even believe everything you say?! You might have been lying to me the whole time!" Bell-mere tried to stand up and punch the bed with fury in her gaze.

"Then what about this?... If within one year a new shichibukai named Donquixote Doflamingo doesn't appear, then I will go personally to kill Arlong and save Nami. However, if Doflamingo appears as I said, then you will have to stay away from Nami and Nojiko for the years to come until I decide that it doesn't really matter anymore if you meet them or not... What do you say?"

"I... Why do you want to keep me away from my daughters that much?!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, I on a mission to search and kill a certain being that can end this whole world the moment it wakes up. For that I need to become stronger and prepare myself for the final battle, if I change the future I know even in the slightlest without being cautious, then there's the possibility that something may disturb my road to becoming strongest, which could ruin everything and kill every living being in this world, included your daughters"

This time, Bell-mere eyes shook for a second. Which was what I wanted as it could mean that I was convincing her little by little.

"Then, what do you say about the bet? If it is Nami and Nojiko's security worries you, then I will make sure to keep them safe for the rest of the year until this bet ends"

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Bell-mere that kept looking at me with a suspicious gaze on her eyes, and looked indecise about what to do. It took a few minutes until she finally answered me with a frown on her face.

"Alright. However, if what you said about that Doflamingo doesn't become true, then you will have to kill Arlong AAAAND give me 100 million bellys..."

Ugh... that's half of my savings... Whatever, it's not like I can lose this bet either...

"Deal" I shook hands with Bell-mere and then prepared to leave the room to continue training Kuina, who by the way was lying exhausted on the floor outside after our swordsmanship training. She probably heard the screams of Bell-mere earlier, but wasn't able to stand up due to being too exhausted.

"Hey by the way, what did you mean by companion earlier" Bell-mere called me right when I was about to leave the room.

"Oh, she was a person destined to die like you, you can talk with her later and ask anything you might are curious about. Now I'm going to go back to my training if it doesn't bother you..."

"Oh..." Bell-mere nodded while watching me leave.

*Click*

"Good grief, let's hope this settles it for now. I'm kinda tired already from that talk alone..."

Hmm?

"Hey Kuina, what are you doing?! Don't sleep on the floor, you are drooling all over it!"

Goddamnit, that Carpet costed me 50 thousand bellys!

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