The girl led us far away from Kaido's room, and along the way, we encountered numerous guards, all wearing helmets adorned with horns. They greeted her respectfully, presumably because she was Kaido's daughter. I expected her to take us to some lavish chamber, but to our surprise, when we finally arrived and she closed the gates... we found ourselves inside a prison cell!
"E-Eh?"
Sandersonia and Marigold exchanged confused glances, and I shared their bewilderment. This girl's background was nothing short of perplexing. She referred to herself as Oden with us but as Yamato with Kaido. She was respected by everyone on the crew, and yet, she slept in a prison cell.
We couldn't help but wonder what was going on with this girl.
"What is this?" I asked, needing confirmation, maybe she just took us to some concealed place.
"This is my room!"
"..."
She said it with such pride, but we weren't here to judge anyone. After all, this person had just saved Sandersonia's life, and for that, we were eternally grateful.
"Thank you for saving me, Yamato!" Sandersonia exclaimed, beating me to the gratitude. However, she received a scolding in response.
"My name is Oden!"
"O-Oden... thank you for saving me," Sandersonia corrected herself.
Although we were still perplexed by her dual identity, we decided to comply and call her Oden.
"Thank you; words can't describe it... thank you for saving my sister, Oden," Marigold and I followed suit.
"It was nothing~" Oden scratched her head and placed us on a small table. She sat in front of us with her head resting on her arms, and it struck me how remarkably beautiful she was. It was surprising that she was the daughter of that monstrous Kaido.
"S-So... why did you save us?" Marigold inquired. We weren't expecting to find any allies on this island, and this girl's motives were still a mystery, despite her help.
It was then that Oden's expression turned serious.
"Because this country needs a saviour, and it can't be me. Your husband is Dracule Veyron. I've read the newspapers my father leaves behind every day, and I've heard of his achievements, as well as yours, although I can't remember you now. I know everything about him, including the fact that he has severe mental hea-."
"That's a lie!" I interrupted, though oddly, Marigold and Sandersonia didn't support me this time.
"Really? I've also read that he's incredibly strong, and many consider him as dangerous as my father. His bounty is even higher! So I was thinking... maybe he could help us!"
"..."
I didn't know what to say. What exactly did she need help with? She was Kaido's daughter, after all!
"Veyron is going to come and save the three of you, isn't he?"
"... we don't know. I'd like to say yes, but given how troublesome this Hobi Hobi no Mi is, I can't be certain. Can't you take us out of this castle or wherever we are?"
"This is an island called Onigashima. I can't take you away; these shackles are actually bombs. They'll explode if I leave the island, or at least that's what I've been told. I can't take you away from here; that's why he even allowed me to keep you." She showed us her shackles.
'So, Kaido has his own daughter imprisoned on his island...?' We were starting to understand her situation a bit better, maybe Kaido was actually an overprotective daughter-con... like a male version of Mihawk. But that still didn't explain her two names.
"And you have no one here who can help you?"
"Everyone here is part of the Beast Pirates. Sorry, but we're on our own. But I'll do my best~"
'She's cute!'
I smiled inwardly; it seemed the situation wasn't entirely hopeless. We had met this girl who happened to be interested in hubby and was willing to help one way or another. 'Hubby, somehow, I haven't lost this battle yet...!'
"There might be a way."
"What is it, big sis?"
"I can turn those shackles into stone and then we can flee together, Oden... but for that, I need to return to my human form. Kaido is despicable; I never thought someone could do such a thing to their own child."
"I'm Kaido's son, not his daughter!"
"Eh?"
Once again, we were left utterly bewildered by this girl's revelations. Now she claimed to be a man?!
Our first reaction was to stare at her ample chest, which could rival mine. 'There's no way you're a man!'
"B-Big sis... maybe she's one of those," Marigold whispered to me, and I recalled the Kingdom of Kamabakka we had passed by. I had set foot on that land once before hastily leaving when we encountered its inhabitants.
"She's an Okama?" I asked my sisters, who began nodding. It was the only plausible explanation.
"I can't be..."
"I'm not an okama! I'm one hundred per cent a man!" Oden retorted, going so far as to remove her clothes and display her 'manhood.' We gasped in disbelief at how 'impressive' everything was down there. I couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy!
'And I'm telling you that you're one hundred per cent a woman! I can recognize an elephant's trunk when I see one, and you don't have that!'
"Anyway, we can discuss this later... Oden. P-Please put your clothes back on."
"Humph! You're convinced now, ain't ya?~"
"Y-Yes" I lied, and they say hubby has mental health issues.
"Tell me your plan!"
"The key to all this is Sugar... I don't know how her Devil Fruit works, but we can't risk killing her. If her fruit is like mine, then unless she personally wills it, her toys won't turn back into humans. That means if we kill her by mistake and her fruit works that way, we'll stay like this forever."
It was indeed a tricky situation.
"Uh huh, we don't want that," Oden agreed.
"So... it's better to just knock her out or lure her to our location, then we can blackmail her with something!" I declared, bringing up another question.
"But what can we use to blackmail her, big sis?"
"About that, I don't know... let's capture her first, and then we can figure out the details."
"Sis!"
"Then how about I try to bring her to you?" Oden seemed confident that she could accomplish this task, given her familiarity with Kaido's operation.
"But that might alert Kaido," Sandersonia added, and she was right. If this plan failed, we might not get another chance; Kaido would surely take us away from Oden and we're powerless to do anything on our own.
"This is complicated."
"I don't even know if hubby will come if he doesn't remember us. The best we can do is somehow return to our normal forms and survive on this island until he comes. If he can remember us, he'll know something went wrong and investigate."
"Y-You really trust him a lot. Do you think he can defeat my father?" Oden asked.
"Oden... my beloved would never lose in a one-on-one fight!"
"Hmm, there's no way Veyron would lose."
In this, we all agreed. It wasn't just about winning a one-on-one battle; we knew that hubby would be furious about such a personal attack straight into his memories. This island might not survive his anger. Even when he destroyed Ennies Lobby he wasn't angry.
"D-Does that mean... he could really save this country?" Oden asked, her eyes filled with hope.
"What's wrong with this country? We don't know much about Wano since its borders are closed, and even news from it rarely reaches the outside. The general assumption is that this country is completely loyal to Kaido."
"That's not the case at all! This country despises my father to the core, and so do I! I'll tell you about the horrific and inhumane acts and crimes committed here. Since you're not familiar with it, I'll recount the tales of the legendary Shogun of Wano, Oden."
***
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