So.

After much thought, I have decided to start posting my edits here on this site. I will still be posting on AO3 as well if that's more your cup of tea.

While I still despise this site's formatting, I couldn't think of any other good reasons to stay off it. Plus, a large number of my readers (as they find it appropriate to remind me) prefer reading stories here as opposed to AO3.

Yeah, the number of complaints I've been getting via anonymous reviews has played a small factor in my decision. Some were better than others, but I think I get the gist of it now.

This is the ONLY time I'm complying with reviewer complaints. I don't want to hear any more the old arguments popping up:

Yes, there are OCs in my story.

Yes, I find them necessary. As Oda has proved numerous times, the world of One Piece does not revolve around the Straw Hats. There are other people with their own backstories and issues.

So whether you're reading here or on AO3, sit back, enjoy, and be sure to review!

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Prologue: Yesterday's Lonely Night! A New Adventure Starts Come Dawn!

All things considered, it was a beautiful night.

This night the moon had chosen to be in its crescent phase, and the constellations were cresting over the northern sky. The air carried the warm balminess of a summer evening, which was a pleasant change from the winter chills that had been persisting the last few days. It was a night Siobhan would truly enjoy under other circumstances.

Too bad she was in a cage and surrounded by assholes.

"You seem to like making a nuisance of yourself, don't you, girl?" the lead asshole huffed as his assistant placed a bandage on his nose.

"Hold still, sir," she droned.

Siobhan ignored the question, taking in her new surroundings. "Was the cage really necessary?"

"Was biting me five times really necessary?!"

"I asked first!"

One of the lead asshole's men stepped forward and jerked his thumb toward his boss. "Biting aside, considering I had to physically pull you off him and that took a full freaking ten minutes, I'm going to say to yes. I'm surprised his nose is still attached."

Siobhan recognized this man as the one who captured her in the jungle. He was even holding her staff! She shot him a dirty glare, but he just stood there with a smirk, his blood-red eyes nearly glowing in the light of his group's torches.

"Thanks again for that, Vaughan," Boss said, stepping up next to him.

"No problem, Boss."

"Now that that's settled, we can get to the matter at hand." Boss knelt down in front of her cage until he was at eye-level with her. "Tell me the truth, girl. Is this the lost island of Kāla?"

Siobhan didn't reply, crossing her arms and intensifying her glare.

"Listen. Despite your actions against us we're not going to hurt you. We just need you to cooperate until we meet our goal…" He paused for moment. "…after which we'll probably be forced kill you though. We can't have you spreading the word about what we do here."

Another member of the Boss' group, a tall woman with a floppy mohawk, whacked him upside the head. "Boss, you just contradicted yourself again! We talked about this!"

Boss ignored her, though he did look a little peeved that she struck him.

"Boss, we are not killing a twelve-year-old," Blood Eyes, Vaughan, scolded. "Can we at least try to pretend to be the good guys here?"

"Didn't know you cared so much about being the 'good guy,' Vaughan," Boss chuckled.

"I don't, but I feel we should hold ourselves to some sort of standard. You know, separate ourselves from the pirates."

"We'll discuss it later. But we will end up killing her."

"You did it again!" the mohawked woman yelled.

Siobhan blew her bangs out of her face. She could not believe she let herself get captured by these jackasses. And her day had been going so well too! She had been so excited when she felt two ships enter the boundaries of the Fog, expecting stories and amusing shenanigans to follow. How did it go so wrong?

"Sorry about our boss," Blood Eyes said, leaning against the cage. "He's just a little excited. He's been searching for this legendary island for a long time."

"It is true," an approaching woman in frilly, gothic clothing added. She was followed closely by a feral-looking man in ragged clothes. "We have had to put up with him blathering on about it ever since he hired us."

"A decision you would be wise to not make me regret," Boss growled at her. He turned back to Siobhan. "Just answer me. Is this island's name Kāla, or isn't it? It's a very simple question."

Siobhan scowled. Even if they were all total assholes, she would not deny the name of this island.

"Yes," she muttered. "This is Kāla, the Island that Skips through Time."

Boss' tired expression vanished as it was overtaken by a near-maniacal grin.

"I knew it. I knew it!" He stood and addressed his men. "After all these years of searching, we've made it! You will all receive the recognition and fortune owed to you, and I will never again be mocked by the ranks of the Navy! The World Government will have no choice but acknowledge us for our deeds! Soon, the Star of Kāla will be ours!"

The small army of men all cheered, raising firsts and weapons in the air.

Siobhan felt her heart skip a beat. She only understood half of that little speech- she never could get her past visitors to explain further about what the World Government and Navy were- but the fact they knew one of the names it was called was alarming. She had never mentioned it to any of her visitors. How did Boss know?!

"Dude, you have issues," the feral man snickered.

Boss turned to the four closest to him. "Runo, Erity, Yari, Vaughan! Start gathering the men together. A small contingent will remain here to set up our base camp, but I want everyone else to start search for the Star!"

"Why do we have to search?" the mohawk woman, Erity, groused. "Can't we just ask the kid?"

They all glanced at Siobhan, who responded by sticking out her tongue and pulling down her eyelids.

"Something tells me that will not end well," the gothic woman, Yari, said. "She would as soon bite Boss again before answering."

"Want me to... convince her?" the feral man, Runo, said with a grin. "She's a spunky little thing- she could easily join the ranks of my new toys."

Siobhan's eyes darted behind the group, where three eerily still individuals stood with blank expressions and glassy eyes.

She snarled. "Those people are not toys, you sicko! Let them go!"

Runo shrugged. "Maybe I will, if you tell us where we can find the Star."

Siobhan remained quiet.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He turned to Boss. "Well, should I?"

"It wouldn't do you any good," Blood Eyes answered before Boss could. "You were off collecting your toys when Erity and I faced her. Your Devil Fruit abilities won't have any more of an effect on her than mine did. Her will is too strong."

His comment got Siobhan a few confused faces from the assorted mooks, but no one made any attempt to clarify.

Yari gave Siobhan a creepy smile. "You are an interesting little girl. Tell me, how you would like to be one of my new dolls? It is far preferable to being Runo's."

"What did I just say?"

"The girl will have a purpose later, even if she won't aid us in our search," Boss broke in, pulling Yari back. "And if her will is truly as strong as Vaughan claims, then we will have better luck claiming the Star on our own then getting any more information from her."

As Boss continued going over his master plan with the troops, the captive girl fumed. Damn right, she wasn't going to tell them! She would sooner die than betray everything her people had spent years trying to achieve, especially to a bastard on a power trip!

Siobhan still couldn't believe this was happening. In all the years she guarded the island, no one had ever gotten this far in stealing the Star. Why had the Fog even let them through? It was usually pickier with visitors-

Siobhan froze as a familiar shiver ran down her back. More familiar than usual- she'd had this exact same feeling just that morning. And yet, at the same time, it was...

... Oh, she thought. Oh, that is new.

"… We'll have Alpha Unit handle that area," Boss was saying. "In the meantime, take Gamma Unit with you to begin combing the island. I want Kāla's treasure by next dawn."

"Nishishishi…"

Boss went rigid at the sound of high-pitched laughter. Immediately everyone turned their gaze to Siobhan, then back to Boss, then all cautiously took five steps back.

"Just what is so funny, little girl?" Boss said in an icy voice, not looking at her.

"Nishishi. The fact you actually think you're going to succeed that soon, if at all, 'Boss.'" Siobhan stood and grasped the bars of her cage. "There's a reason nobody's claimed the treasure yet, and it's not just because this island is so damn hard to find."

"Don't underestimate me," Boss growled.

"I'm not. I can sense you're at least moderately strong," Siobhan clarified. "But none of those reasons are even the ones why you're going to fail. No, that's going to be because of the others."

His eyes narrowed. "Others?"

"Yes, others. They will arrive at the island after the next daybreak." She closed her eyes. "I can sense them, like I was able sense everyone that arrived here today. Call it a gut feeling, but I doubt they'll let you do what you want."

"Do you know who it is?" Erity asked curiously.

"Oh, just more of the same," Siobhan replied. "The same, but also different."

Giving an enraged roar, Boss slammed his fist into cage, knocking it over but miraculously not damaging it. Siobhan grunted when she bumped against the ground and cold metal bars, but was otherwise unharmed.

"Saffron! Contact Oakes and the hunters aboard the Silverback!" Boss hollered at his assistant. "I want them sailing the perimeter of the island, and if they see anyone else, to sink them on sight! And would someone get Jan on the freaking line?!"

"Right away, sir," Saffron said with a bow.

With that, Boss stormed away from the cage and into the crowd, probably to start preparing for the search. Runo, Yari, and Erity followed, but Blood Eyes stayed behind. He shook his head in exasperation before bending over and setting the cage upright.

"Shouldn't have laughed at Boss Carrion. He hates that," he said.

Siobhan scoffed. "Whatever."

Blood Eyes huffed a laugh and raised an eyebrow at her. "So… others, huh?"

Siobhan eyes him warily. "Yeah. What of it?"

He grinned at her, the first sincere smile she'd seen yet.

"Sounds like fun," he said.

Siobhan stared at him in disbelief for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes and turned away.

We'll see, now won't we? she thought. Kāla wouldn't reveal itself, much less for the more of the same, for no reason.

She glanced over Runo's "toys," who still stood at attention off to the side. She memorized their faces, then turned her gaze to a sky that was already starting to lighten.

Let's see what this dawn will bring.

三

The Otaku With Hazel Eyes Presents...

With Characters from the Brilliant Mind of Eiichiro Oda...

Back After Years of Inactivity...

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TOMORROW'S ROMANCE DAWN