To all those who love my work, I love writing abou Lilia. She's fun and I want to write about her. That's all.

The Tales of The Motherly Demon

Chapter 1

The Life of a Fugitive and a Mother

(Greentail Island, South Blue)

"Mommy, I'm hungry," a little boy with black hair and dark eyes asked a tall, beautiful woman with raven hair and dark eyes. The boy wore a plain white tee shirt and blue shorts. The woman wore light hued, sundress that went to her knees. The two appeared to be camping out in the middle of a forest. There was a tent and even a black table and chairs made of some weird material.

"Well that isn't good," the woman smiled warmly at her son. "Wait here, Luffy-kun, I will go get you some food."

"Okay, mommy," Luffy smiled brightly, making the woman's heart melt, but she wasn't fooled. He obviously wanted to go exploring while she went to go hunting.

"I mean it, sweetie," his mother said sternly. "I don't want you going off by yourself . This forest is filled with dangerous animals that can hurt you. You don't want me crying for you, do you, sweetheart?"

"No, but I want to go exploring," he said bluntly, making the woman giggle at his cuteness. He was too honest and would certainly get into a lot of trouble in the future.

"I'll take you exploring after I've returned," she assured him, rubbing his head. "But I don't want you getting hurt. So, please, stay put."

"Okay…" Luffy said, slightly blankly. In truth, Lilia used a bit of her Conquerors Haki to influence Luffy to staying. Depending on how it is used, Conquerors Haki can be used to influence people. It wasn't downright hypnotism, but it was similar. She wasn't completely proud of it, but if it kept her child safe, the woman would do anything.

"Good, mommy will be back," she promised. It would take a normal person several hours to find games, kill it and drag it's corpse back to a campsite. However, this woman wasn't ordinary. "In ten minutes."

The woman kept her killing intent suppressed to the lowest point so the animals wouldn't run from her. She walked casually as if not having the slightest bit of knowledge of a proper hunter. She wasn't even dressed like a hunter. However , her alertness was sharp. Razor sharp. She was completely prepared to act on even the slightest irregular ruffling sound caused by a woodland creature. Although, what she was hoping for was a big animal, like a bear. If she caught something like that, she could sell its pelt to a village on the island. The forest was spacious enough for her to walk around freely and there wasn't any noticeable reason for the woodland creatures to avoid her, yet none came out.

Was it that their instincts were sharper than her usual game?

No… it was something else. Something was scaring the animals into hiding. And that something was a nuisance to her. If nothing came out, then she couldn't feed Luffy. Unacceptable! Not to mention, she had said she'd get food within 10 minutes. It would take much longer if she had to use more traditional means of hunting. She'd be breaking her promise to her son. Also unacceptable!

Lilia activated her Observation Haki, at the cost of her lowered killing intent, and attempted to sense whatever it was that is scaring the animals. Yes… she could feel it. Whatever it was, it was beastly. It could've been an actual animal, but it also could've been human. Afterall, beasts in human clothing could be found anywhere. Not that it mattered, because, human or beast, she would take it down.

There!

Having pinpointed the beastly presence, Lilia wasted no time in using her inhuman speed to cross the considerable distance between her and her target, that might've take a regular person a good half hour to take, in just a few seconds. Arriving at the source of the presence, she found herself in a clearing of the forest. Waiting for her, a giant of a man in a shabby, brown tunic and disgustingly short shorts. In his arms was a giant, spiky black club. His face and arms had several scars and he had a beard and looked to be in his forties. He gave off the impression of a battle veteran.

"So, you must be Aura D. Lilia-san," the giant man said with a wild grin as he rested his chin on the butt of his club. "Ex-captain of the marines turned wanted fugitive. You certainly live up to your hype. Being able to track me down through my killing intent alone. You're very skilled, I'm sure. Not to mention a beauty!"

'Oh, great, a yammerer,' Lilia thought, annoyed. 'I should be polite and wait for him to finish his monologue before I kick his butt, but he seems like the type to go on for a lot longer than ten minutes. I'll give him another minute, then beat him.'

"Allow me to introduce myself," he requested, raising his club. "I am Diron, the top fighter of the Greentail Bandit tribe! I have come to- GRRRGH!"

Faster than Diron, or anyone for that matter, could see, Lilia swiftly closed the distance between them, as if teleporting right in front of him, and delivered a powerful punch right in his gut. The cringing sound of her fist digging into his muscular belly was enough to make grown men squeamish. Without even a struggle, he fell back and laid unconscious. It wasn't because he was weak that he was defeated so easily. A person who could produce enough killing intent to scare animals into hiding couldn't be weak. It was just that Lilia lived in another world of strength entirely.

"Okay, so I guess that wasn't a full minute," Lilia said to herself. "But he seem to have said everything he had wanted to say before I knocked him out." Lilia put her index finger on the center of her forehead. This was her thinking pose. "More importantly, he said something about being apart of a bandit tribe, so I guess he isn't alone, plus him knowing about me means knew that I was here..."

Purposely leading her here, he must've either been planning on beating her or keeping her busy… away from the campsite where Luffy was while his allies would kidnap her boy. "I should go."

Having pieced together the bandits plan, Lilia crouched down like a runner and bolted like a sonic boom, leaving behind the unconscious the unconscious Diron and a cloud of dust.

"There he is, all alone, Ane-san," a male scout, who had mini telescope, relayed to his female bandit leader from up in the trees. There were about twenty to thirty bandits spread out from north of the campsite, on the opposite end from where Lilia would appear. They were a good distance away.

"Nobody else?" The leader asked. She was young woman in her early twenties and looked attractive in a thuggish kind of way. She had neck length brown hair put in a bob cut. Her skin was lightly tanned and she had brown eyes. She wore a sleeveless buttoned tank top, which the top part was left unbuttoned, revealing some cleavage. She wore shorts that only covered half of her thighs. She was also fairly tall at 5'8. At her waist was a sheathed machete and a pistol.

"None," the scout said. "Hard to believe such a small brat could be worth such a ridiculously large sum of money. At least Nico Robin destroyed some warships. All he is is-"

"Is the son of the most wanted man in the world," the leader finished. "I don't claim to understand what goes on in the heads of the government, I just profit off of them. Now let's move. Berret, you and you four guard this point and all the others. Sylven, take your guys to the trees and snipe the woman if she gets near here. Rest of you, with me."

"Right," they all obeyed. Like clockwork, every bandit spread out and followed their respective orders. The female leader led her men forward to the campsite, making sure to be extra careful not to set off any possible traps.

"S-So, just so we're clear, I'm the only one who thinks we can't pull this off?" A nervous man asked his group. He was tall, but lanky. He had long stringy blonde hair and onyx eyes.

"Yup." His cohorts answered bluntly.

"B-Because if you guys have heard half, no, even a tenth of what I heard about that lady, than you'd know how crazy it is for us to cross her," he continued, the fear oozing out of his voice. "I heard she can easily wipe out 1000 well trained soldiers in an instant."

"Who cares, Peter," the female leader dismissed her anxious comrades worries. "Those are probably just rumors anyway. No way one lady can do something crazy like that. Even if it is true, Diron's no pushover. I mean look at this place." She gestured to the surrounding forest, which seemed eerily lifeless due to the lack of animals. "This place would usually be crawling with critters, but just because Diron gets a bit pumped up, they all go into hiding. There's no way he can be beat… what?"

Her men were looking at her strangely, as if they were seeing something unbelievable. When the female leader looked behind her, her eyes widened. A squirrel had had crawled out of it's hiding hole. Then, subsequently, the chirping of the birds had steadily returned. Pretty soon, all of the forest revealed themselves in hordes, as if celebrating the loss of a huge threat to them.

"N-No way…" she gasped, shaking slightly. As long as Diron was around, the animals of this forest, especially the small ones, would be too nervous to come out of hiding. As long he was around, it was impossible to see so many critters out and about. As long as he was around… "Did… Diron get beat?"

"Impossible!"

Shocked screams erupted from her men.

"Diron-Aniki is a monster!"

"He can smash the heads of bears and tigers in one swing!"

"There's no way some woman can beat him!"

"Especially not this quick!"

"Shut up! All of you!" She snapped, then darted forward. There was no time to delay. They had to complete their objective swiftly. As she ran, she shouted an order up to the trees where the scouts and snipers were. "Sylven! See anyone and shoot them! Don't hesi-"

She tugged a stray vine that was on the ground and immediately heard a snap.

'After I was the one who said not to set off any traps…?' She internally cursed herself for her negligence as a huge log came swinging from past the trees and went straight for her. It would have certainly injured her if not for a certain one of her men stepping in and stopping the the swinging lof with his strength. It took some effort, but he stopped the swinging log relatively easily. He was a man with a strong, muscular build. He wore a simple blue shirt and and brown shorts. His sandy colored hair was cut short and, most noticeably, he wore a pair of silver knuckle on his hands. His name Was Oben, one of the top fighters of the Green Tail Bandits, along with Sylven and Diron. Diron was certainly recognized as the top warrior in the tribe due to his enormous strength, but the tribe also had other superhuman fighters as well.

"She set a trap using one of the forest's vines… she's clever," Oben muttered, panting a bit after stopping the log.

"Thanks, PT," She said. She, and the rest of the tribe, called Oben by a certain nickname, which she just abbreviated. She immediate continued forward. "But we have to go. I'll look out for any-WOOAH!"

The leader sank into the ground. She fell (no pun intended) for a pit trap. Swiftly, Oben thrusted his body forward, calling out "Boss!", and grabbed the leader by wrapping his arms around her tightly and pulling her back before she could fall to the bottom. Glancing down, she saw that the hole was at least 40 feet deep.

"Y-You… You've got to be kidding me!" She gasped as she was held by Oben. ""She hasn't even been here a full day! How'd she build a hole this deep by herself?!"

"Guess I'm just a fast worker," a certain woman said from across the hole, shocking the bandits. They turned their attention forward to see a black haired beauty in a light hued sundress, which amplified her beauty. The men were mesmerized. It was like looking at a queen. However, more than that, they felt uncontrollably afraid. As if they were facing a goddess of death. The way she stared at them… she was clearly angry, but it felt more complex, yet simple. Like she was observing them. Bizarest of all was that she had three dead deer skewered on some sort of strange blacksword. "It's pretty obvious why you're here, but I guess I'll give you all the benefit of the doubt. Did you come to take my boy?"

"The… She-Demon…" Peter gasper, his face showing how horrified he was.

'How did she even get in front of us?' The leader couldn't help but wonder. She was supposed to be behind them, but here she was in front of them. Did she sneak past her and her and her 10 men? And that didn't even count the snipers in the trees. Speaking of which… "Sylven! Everyone! Shoot her dead!"

No response.

"What are you morons waiting for?!" She shouted, frustrated.

"By any chance, would you be referring to these boys behind me?" Lilia asked, pointing behind her. What was behind scared the thieves crapless. A huge pile of bodies was laying behind her. Among them was a long silver haired man wearing nothing but a fur vest (maybe it was bear) and shorts. He was heavily muscled.

"It's Sylven and the snipers!" The leader realized, shocked.

"Not only him, but it's the other team you sent t the other side," Oben added, his voice rough and anxious. Very anxious. "Did she seriously take out all of the guys we brought except us."

"But Sylven and them were in the trees…" The leader said, not being able to wrap her head around all of this.

"I was too, for a second, at least," Lilia said, unemotional. "Been in as many types of life and death situations as I have, you pick up a few tricks. Besides, all of them were weak. It was easy to take them out without a struggle.

"Screw you!" The leader shouted angrily as she jumped up, unsheathing her knife. She wanted to maim this woman who looked down on her tribe. Her pride as a bandit leader demanded it. She wanted to stab her in that beautiful face and keep stabbing until nothing was left except a pile of bloody mush. She wanted her gone. Yet…

She couldn't move, nor could she top trembling.

Her entire body was shaking and she broke out in a cold sweat. And it wasn't just her, but all of the bandits were scared witless. They were all trembling and they just wanted to run away, but they couldn't. They were frozen in fear. None of them could wrap their heads around it. Even though she was just one lady, they couldn't imagine themselves winning for even a second. It was like they were face to face with a being the invoked fear itself. They were facing an oppressive aura that they couldn't hope to resist.

"You didn't answer you question from before," Lilia spoke, her eyes glowing red. "Are you here to take my child away from me?"

"S-So… I see the stories about you being scary weren't an exaggeration, lady," the leader grinned wildly. Even if she was terrified, she couldn't allow herself to be intimidated so easily. "But do you really think that you can beat all of us by yourself?"

"Yup," she nodded unhesitantly.

"Tch!" The leader clicked her tongue in frustration. "PT, do you think we can win with all of us fighting together?"

"S-Sorry, boss," he answered, his voice trembling. "It's impossible. I've run a dozen scenarios in my head, but they all end with us getting killed."

"I-I told you this was a bad idea," Peter moaned.

"Shut up," she said energetically.

"You should list to your friends, little girl," Lilia advised coldly. "You can try to overpower me, but for the sake of my little boy, I'll fight you all to my last breath. Oh, and from what I can tell, your chances are less than 0 of defeating me." She added.

"We have to run," the leader acknowledged. "S-She's serious."

"I am," she said, raising up her free arm. Her entire body start emitting a strange back gas-miasma- from head to toe, including her raised arm. Then, faster than they could react, the miasma solidified and a strip of black shot out from her raised hand and circled around them in lightning fast speed, until, finally, it tied around them and constricted, completely restraining them. She pulled them with one strong yank and they were pulled in flying over the deep hole and she carried the bunch of them on her shoulder. It was quite the bizarre sight to see a slender beauty carry a bunch of full grown, tied up adults on her shoulder while also carrying three deer carcasses that were skewered by a strange black sword. Not to mention the unconscious bodies behind her.

"Hey, let us go!" The leader ordered as they struggled.

"I won't kill you but I'm not letting you run, either," she explained. "I'll bring you to my camp, then decide what to do with you." She glanced at the deer carcasses on the sword she had. "I don't really have much choice. I've kept my kid waiting too long, thanks to you."

"Mom!" Little Luffy ran to his mom as soon as she arrived back at the campsite, hugging her tightly.

"Luffy-kun!" She said, hugging him back. "You were a good boy, right?"

"I was," he nodded. "And I'm hungry."

"I'm sorry I took so long," she said apologetically, rubbing his head. "I was… delayed."

"It's okay," he said with an adorable smile that could make you melt. Then he noticed the people behind his mother. They were all tied up. "Who are they?"

"They're no one," she answered coldly. "Pretend they aren't even here."

After binding the leaders group, Lilia gathered and tied up the bandits that she had knocked out beforehand and dragged them all to her campsite like prisoners of war (which they kind of were). As they walked, Lilia ordered the bandits to not say a word and if so much as a single curse came out of their mouths when in front of her kid, then she wouldn't hesitate to drop them in the nearest shark infested part of the sea.

"But-" Luffy's stomach growled loudly.

"Oh, dear," Lilia frowned as she stroke Luffy's cheek affectionately. "You really were hungry, weren't you? I'm sorry, I'll start cooking right now. For now, go play with your toys in the tent. And if anybody somehow gets in, scream. Understand?"

"Okay," he nodded, before going to their tent, but not before giving another curious glance at the tied up bandits.

"Hmph, I'm surprised such a cute kid got such a high price on his head," the female leader scoffed bitterly. "It must be rough raising him, huh?"

"I believe I ordered you to shut up," Lilia said indifferently as he walked with her skewered deer meat to her cooking gear, which was in a large bag in the corner of the clearing. She created a large table with her power and got to work on the deer meat.

"Yeah, boss, don't speak," Peter warned fearfully. "I-I'm sorry, Lilia-san. S-She's a bit headstrong."

"And you're gutless," the female boss snapped dryly. This had been an exhausting 15 minutes and she didn't have much energy to really yell at her more timid compatriot. "So what now? Are you going to kill us?"

"Boss!" Peter and some of the other men screamed, horrified.

"If I wanted you dead, I would have already done it," Lilia said before swiftly shearing off all of the fur on the 3 deer carcasses at speeds that went beyond human comprehension. "No, I belive some questions need to be asked before I do anything too hasty. For starters, how did you know I had come to this island? I wasn't necessarily trying to be sneaky, but I also came here under the cover of the night. What, were you and your boys on the look out for hot mothers with a kid that have devil wings and can fly?" She asked with a smirk before she gutted one of the deer with impeccable technique.

"You think we'll tell you?" The leader asked with a sly smirk.

"I do," she said after gutting the other two deer. "Because you're afraid of me."

"I-I'm not afraid-"

"I'd say you are," Lilia interjected as she pulled out some ingredients from a bag, such as spices, onions, and other things. "Or was I imagining you wetting yourself before?"

"I did not wet myself!" She shouted, red in the face.

"I nearly did…" Peter admitted.

"Too much information, Pete," the leader muttered, disgusted.

"Let's start with the second question," Lilia continued. "Do you have more men? You know, hiding back at your headquarters or whatever? Probably waiting for you return?"

"Again, you think I'll tell you?" She scowled at Lilia.

"Again, you're afraid of me," Lilia countered, chopping the deer into pieces. "You can act tough all you like, but in the end… you'll talk."

"And why-"

"Take a look at your shivering little friend over there," Lilia recommended. The bandits glanced at Peter, who was shaking with fear.

"Peter…" the leader sighed.

"And besides," Lilia continued. "I can guess a bit about you before any kind of investigation. For example, since that guy from before called you people a tribe I assume you have some history, right?"

No response.

"And you, little miss, being the leader of this motley crew," She continued as she chopped onions and marinated the deer meat at the same time by conjuring two extra pairs of hands with her miasma. "Were probably the daughter of the previous chief, no?"

No response, but they, especially the leader, were getting even more anxious.

"I'm guessing you're boys are either children of previous members or strays who joined sometime before. Am I getting everything, right?"

"You…" She growled, her eyes narrowing.

"If I can guess that much, just from a single word, then imagine what I can do after a good interrogation?" Lilia continued with a disturbingly cheerful smile. "I could go hunt the rest of your friends and turn them into the islands authorities. Or, toss them into the sea with a big rock tied to their legs?"

"You wouldn't!" The leader shouted, distressed.

"Why not?" Lilia spat, starting a campfire with a lighter. "You people were the ones planning to turn my innocent Luffy in for a profit. You think it's okay to sell children and not expect retaliation? You disgust me. It's hard enough being a parent without scum like you trying to sell our children! What did they do to deserve you trash's disdain? Were you abandoned by your parents? Abused? Kidnapped? Cry me a river."

The bandits were silent for a moment. They probably wouldn't care if it came from anybody else, but from Lilia… it felt like a mother's scolding. Strict and relentless.

"...You'd think that you'd understand," the female leader whispered. "We live in a world where the strong prey upon the weak. If you aren't willing to dirty your hands to get what you want, then you're a fool. Besides, the sins of your parents, your grandparent, and even your ancestors aren't going to be washed away just because their gone. They live on in the children they leave behind..."

"Cry me a river," Lilia replied unsympathetically. "That doesn't justify your sins. You only give people more reasons to distrust you. You make it really hard for kids like Luffy to prove that they can be something good, rather than being born to do do the wrong things."

"It's impossible," The leader said emotionlessly. "Our places were set the moment we were born."

"That's what they all say," Lilia said. "But there really are people out there who will give you a chance to be good. To live honestly. It maybe a fantasy to you, but that's only because you haven't tried."

"What about you?" She asked. "Do you think you can live honestly, considering your situation?"

"You mean being constantly chased by the government?"

"Yeah."

"I've got a kid to raise," Lilia answered confidently, continuing preparing the meat. "And I'm going to raise. Besides, even if he is doomed to be wanted for the rest of life, it doesn't matter so long as he's kind and grows up to respect life. I believe in Luffy's potential to not give in to the bad guys. I believe he can be good, so, naturally, I have to maintain my faith in humanity as well." For the first time since she brought them, Lilia turned to face the bandits, smiling as widely and more brightly than anyone could. "But, honestly, I still believe most people are good, inside at least."

She was serious! This, the bandits could be sure of. She truly had the will to maintain her kindness, to still live honestly. Even the stubborn leader of the bandits was awed by this adult woman earnestness. However…

"P-People are always bad mouthing the idea of Monkey D. Dragon having a son," she reminded the woman. It was most likely that this was something that Lilia knew far better than she ever could. But she still wanted to know her reaction. "They say it is the equivalent of Gold Roger having a kid. That it will be born pure evil and shouldn't be born at all. If they did give birth to kids, then they say he should be killed immediately. If someone, especially a kid, has to face something like that, then they can't help but become twisted, right? What will you do then? Huh?! You can't run away from something like that."

"...True, there are more than a few ignorant people who bad mouth the child of a man they've never met," Lilia said, a shadow covering her eyes. "It is certainly possible for Luffy-kun to be emotionally hurt by those words and start to hate the world. However, even if Luffy becomes some sort of problem child in the future, I will deal with him. Worst case scenario, I will kill him, then kill myself."

"EH?!" The bandits exclaimed, shocked.

"You don't need to go that far, do you?!" the female leader shouted, feeling horrified by this kind of devotion.

"A parent's duty is to take responsibility for her kid," Lilia answered powerfully. "It isn't always going to be a decision that he/she will enjoy, but, for their sake, it must be done. To do less, I wouldn't deserve to call myself a mother. If any of you have children or will have children. It's not an easy job. They maybe cute, but they're wild and it's your responsibility to raise them properly."

'...How did we go from prisoners to becoming a captive audience to a parent's lecture…?' The bandits couldn't help but wonder.

"Well, I basically finished all I need to do for the deer meat, so all I have to do is cook it," Lilia muttered to herself. As she finished talking she marinated the meat, put some oil in a big pot that was heated by a campfire, and dropped the meat in the pot, then mixed it around a bit and put a lid on top of it and waited. "I guess I'll just search your stuff then."

"Weren't you just lecturing us about living honestly?!" They shouted in unison. This completely contradicted what she had said to them just a moment ago.

"Hm?" Lilia grunted as she called down the miasma-made-bag of confiscated weapons and bags and the like she took from the bandits, The bag hold the confiscated goods had little bat-like wings and was flying over their heads and remained stationary until Lilia gestured for it to come to her. The bag was big enough to rival Santa's sack of toys. "It's okay to indulge my desires once in a while."

"You hypocrite!" The bandit leader shouted.

"Sticks and stones, little girl," Lilia said, unhurt, as she opened the sack. For the beginning, all she found were various weapons, much to her annoyance. "Are weapons all you have? No snacks, no tools, no real supplies."

"We weren't exactly coming here for a field trip, you know?" The female bandit sighed.

"But you were here to capture a child," Lilia retorted, her eyes narrowing. "No chocolate or toys to attract him? Just tools to hurt and intimidate him? You people really are scum. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

'Wha…?' Confused, the leader found herself unconsciously looking down. Strangely enough, she found herself embarrassed at receiving such a motherly scolding. 'What is going on with me? Normally, I wouldn't give a darn about what someone like her thinks, but when she says it, I actually feel... bad?'

"Oh, a Transponder Snail?" Lilia said interestedly as she pulled out said device. "And it's full sized as well, not a mini. That means that you have people, who were not apart of this little heist, waiting on the other end for a call from you, no? You must have made yourself an enemy of this island's lawforce and I'd imagine you would have some kind of hideout and back up hideouts that need to be guarded. A measly 10 or 20 probably wouldn't be enough, so I would guess you have at least 50 to 100 guys guarding your hide away, maybe more."

They went stone faced.

"Am I wrong?"

"You know, you're really arrogant," the female leader growled.

"I know, right?" Lilia chuckled, unoffended. "I know how overconfidence leads to one's downfall, I've beaten a good number or those types to be sure, but it sure can be easy to get full of yourself after a few too many wins."

"...I wouldn't know," she groaned.

"Well, it's always important to maintain humility," Lilia finished. She said nothing else as the meal she prepared finished cooking. She pulled out two dinner plates and put the meat on them in a beautiful and artistic fashion. Just looking at the stew made your mouth water, not to mention how good it smelled. When Lilia saw how ravenously they were looking at the food she made, she couldn't help but tease them a bit.

"You want some of this?" She asked with a sadistic smile, waving her plate at them.

There hungry faces said it all, even if their mouths wouldn't open.

"Well, you can't have any," Lilia said, laughing sadistically. Was that childish? Yes, and Lilia knew it. Was she entertained? Yes, and that was what she cared about. With self satisfaction, the fugitive mother went into her tent to eat with her son. "Oh, and if you think you can cut my miasma with that little blade in your hand, good luck. Even a cannon couldn't break it." She added before entering her tent.

"Tch!" The female leader clicked her tongue in frustration. She did have a knife in her hand, Lilia knew this, and it was impossible for her to cut this black stuff.

"...I'm sorry, Boss," a certain man in the other set of tied up bandits said sincerely. It was Sylven, the leader of the snipers.

"You finally up, huh, Sylven?" She said indifferently.

"I can make no excuses," he continued. "It all happened so fast and I blacked out before I knew it."

"No… you can't be blamed for this one," she admitted, the shame written all across her face. "It was my fault. We grossly underestimated her and this was the cost. All because I wanted that one big score… the old man must be crying in his grave right now."

It had been two year since the previous leader, the current leader's father, died of illness, leaving his only daughter to take over as the leader of The Greentail Bandits. Ever since, she had been looking to prove herself and really fill her old man's shoes. Until now, they only did small time thuggery, but when that weird guy came to them and told her about the fugitive mother and son, she thought "This was it!". It was 'it' alright and now they were paying for it.

"Don't blame yourself, Ane-san," Oben said sympathetically. "We all underestimated her."

"I didn't," Peter inputted.

"Shut up, Peter," she snapped.

"And your father wouldn't be disappointed," Sylven assured her. "You think he never picked a fight with opponent he could never beat? We're bandits, Boss. We'll always run into trouble… granted, she is on a whole other level of trouble."

"See, I did mess up big," the leader screamed angrily.

"Was that last part necessary, Sylv," Oben asked him irritably.

"I wa just stating a fact," he shrugged.

"So… now what?" Peter asked hesitantly. "It doesn't sound like she will kill us or anything, but she says she'll track down the rest of us and turn us in or worse."

"She seems smart," the leader muttered. "She just might be able to track them down even if we say nothing."

"D-Do you think they'll be able to win if they all attack her together?" Peter wondered. This 50-man team was just a fraction of the Greentail's bandits fighting power. Their true numbers exist in the several hundreds. The large, army like numbers were one of the reasons they were able to exist for so many eneration on the island. Even if she was a monster, if 800 men attacked her all at once…

"No," Sylven said, shooting down Peter's idea and crushing his hope. "At least not head on. She's dangerous and they don't know what their up against. Besides… I know I was knocked out without even putting up a fight, but… if she beat Diron, then there isn't a single fighter in our ranks who could ever take her."

A morbid silence took over the air around the detained prisoners. They all rememered how strong Diron was. Sylven and Oben, the best fighters prior to Diron's arrival, were no true challenge to him. His very presence kept the forest silent! It was because of him that they were able to accomplish things since the previous leader's death. They all thought he was invincible… but he lost.

"Well… we can't just lose hope," the leader said with some fire. "We're the Greentail Bandits, you know? We've made it this far, my ancestors made it this far, by gutsily moving on and never giving up. I'm sure we can get out of this situation if we just put our heads together."

"You… kind of talk like a man, Ane-san," Oben joked.

"Oh, shut up you!" She snapped, going red. "I was just-"

RUSTLE

The leaves around the way they came from the campsite were rustling loudly. Was it a squirrel or something? As they thought that, several birds flew out of the trees like bullets, as if spooked by some kind of ferocious beast. The bandits grew anxious, because, obviously, being binded together like cotton swabs would put them at a considerable disadvantage if some kind of wild animal were to come out right now. Some of them went as far to consider yelling for Lilia's help. They might have done just that when whatever was behind the trees came out if it wasn't for the fact that it was Diron, the one sent to combat Lilia.

A few minutes earlier.

'Hmm… if they escape, should I chase them?' Lilia wondered as she ate with Luffy. While her earing couldn't quite be called 'super' it was sharper than the average person, so she could hear the finer points of her prisoners conversation. They were definitely planning an escape. Also, they were talking about whether or not they're reinforcements could defeat her.

On one hand, they attempted to kidnap Luffy and sell him for a profit. That was unforgivable in Lilia's eyes. They couldn't really complain if she decided to kill them and then hunt and kill the rest of their comrades. On the other hand, it felt unnecessary at this point. They were bound in miasma, which would be impossible to break out of, so their danger factor was considerably. Besides, considering that they gave up without a fight, they know that they stand no chance against her even if they had a million men fighting for them. It would prove troublesome if they let it get out that she was here. Should she erase their memories?

'Sigh… I was hoping we could stay here longer than a day,' Lilia moaned internally. For most of the time since Luffy was born (he is 5, currently), she and him have been moving from island to island avoiding marines and fighting off all of the greedy pigs that would dare to try to separate them for the sake of their own pockets. Seldom have they ever stayed in one place for long than a few weeks, but not being able to stay for less than twenty four hours was a new low. Honestly, if it was just her, than she wouldn't really mind island hopping, considering that she was quite used to such things and enjoyed it, but since she was raising Luffy… 'Is it really okay for me to keep doing this? Moving him from place, never letting him make a single friend his age? Keeping him away from people? I realize the situation we're in doesn't allow me the freedom of raising him normally… but I'm his mother. I have to also think about how to bring him up, as well as protect him.'

"The food is really great, mom," Luffy said happily as he ate his stew.

"Hm?" Lilia was snapped out of her thoughts, then she smiled motherly at her only child. "Oh? Why thank you, Luffy-kun. I'm happy to hear that."

"Hey, mom, what are you going to do with those guys outside?" The little boy asked, making Lilia's smile turn into a scowl.

"That's none of your concern," Lilia said sternly. She did not want to talk about such things with a 5 year old. Least of all her own son.

"But who are they?" Luffy asked, not letting it go as he faced his mother dead in the eye.

'T-That look,' Lilia thought, her eye twitching. Perhaps in ten or so years those would be the eyes of man with the eyes of a king, but right now they were the eyes of an adorable and innocent child, which was equally, if more, effective against the former navy captain. "Fine… all you need to know is that they're bad people who do bad things. That's all I'll say."

"What kind of bad things?" Luffy pushed, tilting his head to the side, which proved highly effective against his mother.

'Why you…!' She thought in frustration. "They steal, rob, and hurt innocent people. In other words, they're crooks."

"Why do they do things like that?" Luffy asked.

"Hmm… It usually depends on the circumstances," she started explaining. "Most crooks are the way they are due to desperation due to being poor. Some of them steal for their families-"

"So they're good?" Luffy asked innocently.

"While others do it for themselves," Lilia continued, looking serious. Once she got started, she went on until the end. "Regardless of whether or not they mean good or bad, stealing is wrong."

"Why?" the 5 year old asked.

"Because it's like lying," Lilia answered. "You take something that isn't yours and convince yourself that it belongs to you, which is lying to yourself. Besides, when you rob something from someone, you hurt their feelings and end up causing more problems."

"Hm…." Luffy crossed his arms and thought hard about what his mother had just said, so hard, in fact, he was actually going red in the face from the effort of thinking, making Lilia giggle. Was she talking too seriously with a 5 year old? "I don't get it."

"Well, it's good that your thinking about it at least," Lilia sighed, smiling. "Most won't even do that."

"But… why are those guys outside crooks?" Luffy asked again. Right, she didn't really give a proper answer to that originally, did she?

"Hm… I guess, in their case, they were just born into being crooks and thus believe that that's all they can be," Lilia said, sounding sagely. Saying it the way she did, she felt some slight pity for those thieves out there. She wouldn't forgive them for trying to kidnap Luffy, but if thievery was the only path that they believed was an option, then perhaps they too were victims, in a way?

"Oh… then they're like me?" Luffy asked in a somber tone, shocking Lilia.

'Don't tell me… he was awake?' Lilia thought, feeling horrified.

It was just a few weeks ago at West Blue. Lilia, with a drowsy Luffy in her arms, snuck into an island under the cover of the night, like usual. Feeling hungry, Lilia luckily found a late night diner at the nearest town. The place had a sort of local fee to it. It was run by an older man. There were only a few other men there at the time. Lilia carried a now sleeping Luffy in her arms, sat him on a bar stool, and gave her order to the old man, who just wrote down their orders and didn't ask about her or her kid.

"Looks like that Dragon guy did another crazy stunt again," a burly man said to his buddies as he read the news paper. They were sitting close to where she and Luffy were. "Apparently, he and his army got in a bout with some high profile Navy guys and roughed them up bad."

"I hear that he's becoming as big a criminal as Gold Roger," his friend, a balding man with big muscles, said.

"Not even becoming, he's practically exceeded Roger," his other friend, a lanky man with an unshaven face, added. "In terms of being a criminal, he's the biggest I've ever seen. At least Roger wasn't directly opposing the government directly, but this guy is."

"Doesn't seem like things will ever quiet down," the burly man muttered. "Just a big nuisance is what he is."

"Sounds like you guys aren't Dragon's biggest fan, huh," Lilia said, inserting herself in their conversation. She didn't really care about how much people hated her husband. They were just grumps venting out their frustrations anyway. They didn't know a thing about him.

"Not one bit," the burly man answered before getting a good look at Lilia's face. He was caught off guard by how beautiful she was. His two friends were also captivated by her unusual beauty. It was a common occurrence for her. Being as attractive as she was, she naturally charmed most men who laid eyes on her. If she wasn't as strong as she was, it would probably be a hundred times more dangerous for her to be travelling with just her child. "Uh… you aren't from this village, are you, miss?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"A-A beauty like you would stick out," he stammered. "We don't have a single woman here half as good looking as you."

"I'm sure I don't hold a candle to your wife," Lilia retorted cooly, repelling his weak advances.

"Is it that obvious I have one," the burly man laughed while rubbing the back of his head.

"Call it woman's intuition," she said. It was also common for married men to make passes at her, especially in bars. "It just becomes a sixth sense after a while. I'm guessing your two friends also have significant others of their own?""

"She's got our number," the lanky man laughed.

"So why so much hate for Dragon?"

"He's insane and a menace," the bald man answered with heat. "His trouble making is going to throw the whole world upside down."

"From what I hear, he nor the Revolutionary Army doesn't attack or harm innocent civilians…"

"It's because of him that the taxes have risen again," the lanky man added angrily. "If he isn't stopped soon, then it's likely to be even worse than it was with Roger."

That was most likely the main reason for these particular men's disdain for Dragon. Whenever a big criminal starts his career and gains notice by the powers at be, the taxes of all the World Government affiliated countries and territories rise little by little. In most cases, they return to normal quickly enough, but were for truly threatening individuals and organizations, such as Roger and his crew, the tax keeps increasing. However, in the end, Roger never directly opposed the Government, so the tax increases were limited, but Dragon, who directly opposed the government, could justifiably be used as a reason to keep increasing taxes.

This was a common ploy by the higher ups to promote hate for their enemies. Dragon, being someone who is attempting to, and most likely could, sway the opinions of the citizens to his favor and ideals, certainly warrant this sort of negative propaganda.

"I worry for my kids the most," the burly man said tenderly. "What will happen to them if the world turns into one big war zone? It doesn't look unlikely that the Revolutionaries will affect us, who live outside of the Grand Line."

"That is worrisome…" Lilia admitted sympathetically. Dragon doesn't want innocent people to get hurt, but he declared war on the whole world to save it. Even if he didn't like it, it was inevitable that things like this would happen. "But you guys will manage, I'm sure."

"I hope so…"

"Hey, you know what I heard a while back," the lanky man said suddenly.

"What?" His balding friend asked.

"I was at the marine base at the island near here trading fish when I heard some navy guys talking about Dragon having a kid," the lanky man explained. Lilia, showed no visible sign of surprise, but she internally stiffened and instinctively held onto her sleeping child. She had a feeling she wouldn't like what she was about to hear.

"Oh yeah, I think I heard that too," the burly man said.

"I did too," the balding man added.

"But that isn't the worst of it," he continued. "He had it with a lady marine."

"You're kidding?" The burly man said. "Man, I guess some women just don't use their brains."

Lilia ignored the urge to smack the man up the head. Besides, she didn't really care what other people thought of her anyway.

"But seriously, a child?" The balding man said with notable disgust. "What a stupid whore. Birthing the child of a devil!"

"Isn't that just a little bit unfair," Lilia said, trying her harrdest to remember that these were just ignorant, drunk men that didn't know anything about her, Dragon, or Luffy. "The woman aside, calling the child a devil is a uncalled for. He or she hasn't done anything, have they?"

"Sorry, sweetheart," the bald man said coarsely. "But you just don't understand, it seems. You are a woman, so you must be sympathetic with kids instinctively. But Dragon's kid, or any other criminal's kid, isn't just any baby. They're the devil!"

"Yeah," the burly man agreed.

"Remember Davey Jhon?" The lanky man said suddenly.

"Yeah," the bald man nodded. "What a menace he and his gand were when we were kids. Vandalism, extortion, robbery, murder, he did it all! Thought things would be peaceful after he was killed by a cop, but then his son took over and did everything his old man did."

"The brat even got a bunch of other brats to join his gang," the bald man added. "Kids don't just take after their parents, they become worse than them."

"And not just the Davey Family, either," the bald man continued. "The Ratfords, the Kurosagi, the Hirya Pirates, and The Oragara Pirates! Each of them have caused trouble from generation to generation, from parent to child. All of their bloodlines are cursed!"

It isn't their bloodlines that's cursed, Lilia thought. It's who raised them and the people who can't look past their lineage that are to blame.

"And Dragon's boy will probably be the worst of the lot," The lanky man hollered. He shot up his beer jug in the air and yelled. "I hope they find him and kill him like they would with Roger's child!"

"Here, here!" His friends cheered, raising their jugs.

"If nothing is done, then he'll be an even bigger menace than his dad!"

"He'll wreck the world!"

"He'll be a demon! A murderer! He should never have been born!"

"Sir, I'd like to change my order to go," Lilia ordered, jumping up from her stool, the blanket wrapped Luffy in her arms, seemingly still sleeping despite the noise. Lilia had had enough. If she stayed here any longer, blood would most likely shed. It wasn't worth letting her anger out and getting the Navy on her tail just to make herself feel better. The drunk fools weren't worth it. She just wanted to get out of this darn diner.

"Here."

"Eh?"

The old owner/cook handed Lilia a big bag that held what Lilia had ordered. He must have prepared it before she ordered it to go. This surprised Lilia.

"You looked like you wanted to leave, so I took matters into my own hands. Figured you wouldn't mind," the old man explained. His expression was stony, but his eyes had a fatherly smile within them. Lilia could tell these things. "I try to make women happy."

"T-Thank you," Lilia said hesitantly before taking the bag of food from him. At least one man there had some kindness in him. She started walking out of the diner with Luffy in one arm and the food in the other.

"Ah, you're leaving?" The bald man sighed. "Why? I thought we were having a nice chat."

"I," she said, stopping halfway to the exit, her back to the men. She half turned head so they only saw half of her face. But half was enough to see that the friendly woman they were talking had disappeared and was replaced by an icy cold, hate filled gaze that sent shivers down the spines of men shouldn't fear the glare of a beautiful woman. "Just don't want to keep exchanchinng words with unpleasant, small minded drunks like you. Good night." She stormed out.

All things considered, it could have been worse. She could have raged and done something stupid that would have put her and Luffy in danger. It wouldn't have been worth it.

Yet that didn't make the burning in her heart stop. It was just so frustrating. That was not the first time she had heard people badmouth her son like that and it wasn't the first time she had just forced down her anger and stormed away. She didn't want to hurt them (well, she kinda did), she wanted them to understand. She wanted them to understand that Luffy wasn't the devil spawn the media was making him out to be. He was just an innocent, curious, angelic little boy like any other child.

But she couldn't. Not without risking putting him in danger.

The only comfort she had that night was that Luffy had not been awake to hear what was said about him.

Or so she had thought. Luffy had been plenty awake that night. He listened silently as the men from the diner had cursed his name, cursed his birth, and wished for his death.

'How could I have been so careless…' Lilia screamed internally. The answer was that she, understandably, had gotten too worked up from hearing the jeers of the men to think straightly. It wasn't her fault, but she sure thought so. 'I'm so stupid!'

"Luffy, what those- urk!" Lilia could sense the familiar presence of the man she had defeated before ambusing the rest of the bandits. Diron was his name, she thought. She had much rather console her son, but it would be naive to allow the the people who tried to kidnap Luffy to run away free. "Stay here. I'll be back."

She rushed out of their dent to see Diron desperately trying to tear the black bindings restricting the bandits. He would not succeed. 1, because the bindings were not made of ordinary material and were almost impossible to break. And 2, Lilia was here to deal with him.

"Crap, she already noticed," the female leader cursed. "Diron, just run for now! Get help!"

"No!" The mountain of man shouted defiantly. He raised his body and and turned to face Lilia, his black spiked club pointing in her direction. Judging by the redness of his face and the sweat coming from his forehead, he was exerting himself more than normal. Lilia guessed the punch she landed on him must've damaged him considerably. "She-Demon, let the boss and my comrades- Ah!"

Lilia did not wait for him to finish.

She raised her right arm and a plume of pitch black miasma in the form of a giant hand shot out and grabbed the big bandits whole body and lifted him up high into the air. He tried to break free, but his struggles were in vain.

"You really ought to stop monologuing before a fight," the female boss groaned, her frustration obvious.

"Listen, you second rate thieves," Lilia growled, sounding very furious. She was in no mood to deal with these people. "I'm in a really bad mood right now and I don't want to-"

POROPOROPOROPOROPOROPOROPOROPORO...

The familiar sound of a transponder snail came from the pile of things Lilia had confiscated from the bandits before. The bandits tensed when they heard it ring. It would not lead to anything good if Lilia decided to answer it. Knowing that it was their fellow bandit on the other side of the call, Lilia decided she would answer it. She was in a bad mood and maybe busting some bandit heads would make her feel better. She walked to the pile. As she walked, Diron remained restrain in place in the air by the giant sized black hand, a trail of black gas extending as she walked. It looked like it could go on forever. Whether it was automatic or by her conscious doing, the bandits didn't know.

CLICK

"Hello," Lilia said casually after answering the snail phone.

"B-Boss!" The desperate voice of a man answered her. "Is that you?!"

"Nope," Lilia replied, unphased. However, the bandits were more than a little phased. They were frightened of the desperation in their friends voice. It was obvious that something was wrong. "But she's right here. Would like me to give it to her?"

"Wha-?! Y-Yes! Please give it to her! Now! It's an emergency!"

"Okay, but only because you asked so nicely," Lilia said as she briskly walked over to the tied up thieves. She held the snail in front of the female thief's face. "It's for you."

She didn't make a qwip. There was no time.

"Johnsy, is that you," she asked, sounding desperate herself. "What's wrong? You sound-"

"We are being attacked!" Johnsy shouted.

"Attacked?! By who?!"

"Monsters…!" Johnsy cried. "Oh god… oh god… there are only three of them, but… they're too strong! They've killed a lot of us already! Even the women and children!"

"What?!"

"Boss, you and the others have to come back! Now! Only Diron, Sylven, and PT have a chance against them! Hurry!"

"B-But I don't understand! How did-"

"Kyakyakyakyaaah!" She was interrupted by high pitched laughter. "Look what we have here. A little thief hiding away while his friends get slaughtered? Not good, sis, not good at all. I'll punish you with a slow death."

"S***!" Johnsy cursed. "I won't go down without a fight, you monster!"

BOOM!

An explosion went off on the other side of the call. It was obvious that Johnsy had blown something up to takeout the killer.

"Johnsy! Hello,are you still there?! Answer me!" The female leader begged for his answer, but it was no use. The line was dead now. "What the hell is happening?!"

"Women and children… our wives and kids are being killed…!?" One of the bandits shouted. Him and his friends looked, rightfully, horrified. They tried, again, to break free from their bindings, but it was a vain struggle. Lilia's miasma bind was near unbreakable. No mere knife could cut it. Even in the extremely unlikely chance that someone would come to save them, they'd probably fail against the She-Demon.

It was obvious. Lilia heard Johnsy as clear as the rest of them. The fate of the Greentail Bandit Tribe rested on how Lilia chose to do next, knowing what she knew.

I'll end it here. Wow, I really loved writing this. Some of you who follow me as a writer may know that Luffy's Terrifying Mom was the first story I had ever published on this site. I remember thinking of wanting to read a good Luffy's mom story, but there just wasn't anything good. Either she wasn't what I was hoping for or she was, but got killed off in a chapter. Why not let her live? Let her teach and raise Luffy into the fine man we know he will become. So that's why I decided I would write that story, but that isn't all. I've thought up of a lot of One Piece OC's for various stories and I love them all, but if I had to pick a favorite, it'd be Lilia. It's just so easy to get involved with her, not to mention fun. She's super strong (admiral level, at least) and is scary, but that isn't all there is to her. You'll see as the story progresses.

So, anyway, something very serious is going on and now Lilia has a choice. She could either ignore what she heard and keep the Greentail Bandits imprisoned, or she could let them go save their friends. That's all she has to do. Let them go and be done with it. But will she? These are the people who tried to kidnap her son and sell him for a profit, so this could be considered them getting their just desserts. However, there's also the fact that women and children are getting killed by the unknown assailants. In the end the thing that matters most to Lilia is protecting and raising Luffy So, what would set the best example for her growing child.

Speaking of Luffy, now he's like Ace, huh? The whole world hates his father and him by association and he knows it. But there are differences, obviously. We know that Dadan and the guys truly cared about and loved Ace, but just didn't always show it. Lilia, on the other hand, will brave the roughest seas and climb the tallest mountains in order to prove to Luffy that he isn't the monster people think he is.

So I'm sure you all have questions about where this story is going. Such as, will Luffy still meet Ace and Sabo and become their brother or if he will meet Shanks? Will he even want to be a pirate? Will he change with a smart mother raising him? The answer to these and other questions as the story continues.

So you may be disappointed by the so called "fights" you read just now. Keep in mind, Lilia is as strong as an admiral, if not stronger. There are not going to be a lot of guys outside of the Grand Line that can take her.

So, with all that I wanted to say being said, please review this story. Reviews motivate me to continue writing. Oh, and one more thing, read A World of Difference by manicherryblossom33. It's great.