Red eyes opened to the sound of laughter. Stretching her arms above her head Akame swung her legs from the hammock she had grown accustomed to and planted her bare feet on the floor, instantly feeling the sway of the ship beneath her feet. The ship itself was built because of Akame, the ship she had envisioned all of them travelling on after everything had finished. This was the ship that was there's. Glancing to the only other two hammocks inside the room, they were both empty of their occupants. But with a smile, she knew that was where the laughter was coming from. After the Emperor had fallen, she wouldn't have thought such laughter was possible from either of her comrades, everything that they had been through, how much they had lost. But in the end, the three had come out of the rebellion that had ended the corrupted Empire. Not unscathed however, yes there had been the loss that each of them had suffered.

The deaths of the other members of Night Raid had hit all of them; the three, plus their Commander were the only ones still left of the band of assassins. Najenda had decided to stay on in the Empire to help rebuild with what was left of her shortened lifespan, after using Susanoo's trump card, she only had a handful of years left before her body would start to fail her, maybe a year or two after that before she succumbed to death. Deciding to give the last of her years to rebuilding the Empire she said her farewells to the three remaining members beneath her on their way out to sea. It hadn't been an easy goodbye, but it was one that they had to make and under the cover of darkness. It had to be a secret that the Rebellion itself was headed by a band of assassins, the new would crumble just like the old if it got out. They were Assassins, not Heroes. There had been nothing heroic about their actions that aided the rebellion.

Akame

Leone

Tatsumi

These were the final members of Night Raid, who had sacrificed so much for a cause that they'd never be welcomed into. But that didn't stop them from doing what they believed to be right, fighting a corrupt system, ending the rule of tyranny. Saving countless lives and allowing everyone in the Empire to see a bright future. The three survivors of Night Raid had come so far in their journeys but not unscathed in their victory.

Akame, for the rest of her life would have faded red scars all over her body from Murasame's trump card.

Leone would forever be in a partial transformed state after fusing with Lionel, while her hands were still that of an ordinary humans, the tail she tended to grow when activating her Teigu was permanent she now even possessed the two feline ears where her originals use to be. No matter how many times she tried to revert back to fully human, it was impossible.

Tatsumi now fused with Incursio sported a single red eye with a cross slit pupil at the centre while his other remained green, his body had also taken to adapting to his surroundings much like the armour of Incursio itself does.

Their battles had taken a toll on their bodies, but no matter what the three had left the Empire with the full intent to continue on living and continuing to grow. If they didn't continue on living, they believed that they'd never be able to face the ones that they had lost.

Akame headed for the door, however stopped for a moment and glancing to the swords that rested beside her hammock that Najenda had handed her on the dock just before they left. Kousetsu, the weapon once wielded by the Wild Hunt member, Izou and Kiriichimonji, the same blade she once wielded back in her time as a member of the Elite Seven.

Akame knew that apart from Incursio and Lionel, the majority of the Teigu would be destroyed in the new Empire that would rise. They were weapons that only caused death. A source of corruption for some, power for others. They were an unnecessary commodity and the new Empire wouldn't seek out war like the previous reign.

Najenda had given Akame the weapons, knowing that in their future conflict would no doubt arise. With who they were, they would never stand aside in the face of danger or corruption. While Akame would have loved to never wield a weapon again, she knew Najenda to be right about that.

Pressing open the door that led out onto deck, Akame couldn't help but let the smile on her face grow as she saw Leone and Tatsumi on deck and what made it even better, Tatsumi had been fishing. Leone's ears instantly picked up on the dark haired assassin's movement and turned to face her with a grin.

"Tatsumi caught breakfast." Leone told her as she slapped Tatsumi on the back. "He was up even before me catching these bad boys."

"Nice work." Akame nodded crouching down beside the basket that held the fish, all meaty and ready to be prepared to cook. This had been their daily life since sailing away from the Empire on their ship. It had their bare necessities and was a seaworthy vessel. They each had to work together to maintain her and keep her sailing in the direction they wanted to go.

With Murasame now broken and long since melted down to never be wielded again, Akame had picked up a new Teigu; The Complete Book of the World: Rongo Rongo. This had given them so many options that they had no idea on even where to start their new journey. Leone had decided to simply flick to a page and that would be their destination. They had yet to make landfall, or see any sign of any but they were enjoying their time learning the mechanics of their ship.

As Akame and Tatsumi began to prepare the fish for their next meal, Akame cast a glance from the corner of her eye at her fellow assassin. She had seen him come so far from the innocent young man he had been when he had first stood across from her protecting a girl he had no idea was a monster. Since then he had grown stronger, affected the lives of everyone in Night Raid and had lost just as much as the three of them. But the one that almost broke Tatsumi had been the loss of Mine. During the final battle when Leone, herself and Tatsumi had been fighting. Mine had passed away in her comatose state. They had learnt of this when the fighting was over.

At this time, Tatsumi still hadn't been able to revert back from his dragon form that he had taken on during his final battle with the giant Teigu: Shikoutazer and withdrew completely upon hearing the news of Mine's passing. Without the help of Leone, Akame would have never been able to track Tatsumi down. When they found him he was reverted to his human form, it had taken some time for him to get back to his normal self. Tatsumi loved Mine and before that could ever turn into anything more, it was lost. Leone and Akame were both worried about him, but he assured them that he was fine. Out of respect, neither brought up their lost comrade. Leone and Akame didn't have the heart to tell him that Mine had been pregnant, believing that he would never have been able to come back from that.

Akame glanced over to the blonde to see her happily leaning over the wooden wheel keeping them on a steady course. It wasn't needed, the ship had a built in guidance system so they wouldn't be off course if they left the wheel only in strong weather would they need to keep someone at the helm, just both Akame and Tatsumi had noticed that she had a fondness of raw fish since her merging with Lionel and tended to keep her away from the food preparations, especially the fish.

Leone was mostly the same other than the change of features she now possessed; in fact she seemed more pleased by her changes. Physically stronger, higher sense of hearing, sight and smell, when activating her Teigu all of these were heightened again and once she entered the final fused state, they heightened even further.

The two were her most trusted friends and she couldn't imagine anyone taking their place in her life.

"Yo, we've got some clouds ahead." Leone called down, making Akame frown slightly as she looked up at the approaching clouds that Leone had pointed out. They had come across a few storms, nothing they couldn't handle but the Teigu Rongo Rongo would have informed her of such a change in weather. Not only did it have maps of the world, it also gave detailed information about the weather, mountains and lands. On the last page there was a prediction of natural disasters that will happen in the future. So it was slightly odd that she hadn't come across this in her readings. Plus, the weather seemed rather severe, far worse that what they had endured thus far.

"Akame, I'll help Leone, you put all this inside and we can prepare breakfast later." Usually, Akame would have protested such a thing, but nodded figuring it would be best to deal with the upcoming storm. Rushing inside Tatsumi set out to raise the sails so that they didn't get torn in the strong winds that they would endure.

"It's gonna be a big one!" Leone called down as the winds began to pick up. Akame soon returned and the three set out to fix the ship to keep it afloat during the already rough waters that they were sailing into. It was clear that this wasn't just an ordinary storm. The wind itself sounded like screams of the damned as it battered the side of the ship, the waves rose higher and higher causing the ship itself to glide along the ocean's surface down titanic waves. It took everything the three had just to keep the ship from capsizing, the lightning strikes hit the ocean's surface some even coming close to the ship. The darkness that covered them would think they'd be sailing through night instead of the early morning. Leone was doing everything she was able to keep the wheel steady, using all her new animalist strength to control the helm.

"What's that!?" Tatsumi roared over the rain and winds, cracks of thunder causing the air to vibrate. Akame looked to where Tatsumi was pointing, her eyes widening as lightning struck and a massive shadow was revealed beneath the ocean's surface. It wasn't a creature; no it was a physical force that she had seen. The ocean itself was beginning to spin. A massive whirlpool was beginning to form.

"Leone change course!" Akame shouted.

"I can't!" Leone growled her short blonde hair having grown longer showing that she had activated her Teigu increasing her physical strength but nothing, the wheel wouldn't budge. Akame turned to Tatsumi who was gripping a rope just so he wouldn't be thrown overboard, he was looking for anything he could do but there was nothing. If they unfurled the sails they'd tare in the wind, Leone was using every ounce of strength she could and if she entered her fused state she'd likely break the wheel completely off the ship. Looking to the growing whirlpool, it was already obvious without a strong outer force; they weren't going to escape this. Grabbing Tatsumi by the shoulder he looked at her, his slitted red eye glowing in the darkness.

"Tatsumi, can you carry both of us!?" Tatsumi's eyes widened before nodding understanding Akame's intent, both rushed for Leone who was still holding the wheel, and both could see that the wooden mechanism was beginning to crack underneath the strain of the current that was pulling against Leone's own strength. Tatsumi, without even reaching for the sheathed weapon on his back, no longer needing the key having fused with Incursio so much, was covered in Incursio's armour. An armoured arm wrapped around both women's waists as wings sprouted from the back of Tatsumi's armour.

"Hold on!" Instantly they were airborne high above where they had been on the deck with a single leap from Tatsumi, both Leone and Akame clutching to Tatsumi as he shot straight up, the winds ripped past them causing their hands to clench onto wherever they could on the armour covering Tatsumi as his arms held them both close. Akame could see the ship below begin to pull into the whirlpool no longer being restrained by Leone's strength it sailed along the currents. Her red eyes widened as Tatsumi lunged to one side as lighting crashed right down beside them, however the sudden move caused Akame to lose grip on Tatsumi and she slipped down out of Tatsumi's grip, she managed to grip hold of his leg however Tatsumi was set off balance because of the sudden shift in weight.

"Akame hold on!" Leone shouted reaching out a hand; however with the rain causing the armour to become slippery as Akame reached to take Leone's hand her other slipped from Tatsumi's leg and she fell. The change in course for Tatsumi and Leone was instant not daring to let Akame fall to her death, Tatsumi's wings curled inwards causing both to fall and with the added weight of Leone they fell faster than Akame quickly catching up to her, spreading his wings out Leone grabbed Akame's hand as she fell past them causing them to go down in a spiral spin.

The three continued to spin, Leone pulling Akame close while Tatsumi's arms wrapped around both of them before his wings unfurled causing them to come to a dead halt amidst the swirling tides.

"Everyone okay!?" Tatsumi shouted.

"Yeah!" Leone called back getting a swift nod from Akame, they were already deep inside the whirlpool, the sight of the ship running its course along the currents within the whirlpool. Tatsumi looked up only for his eyes to widen underneath his visor as he dived out of the way as a water spout shot straight towards them; his movement was constant as numerous water spouts shot out, crossing the whirlpool in all directions. Akame and Leone both kept watch for anything Tatsumi might miss, but he managed to avoid even the lightning strikes that seemed to be targeting them in this storm.

"Tatsumi, get back to the ship." Akame spoke, feeling as if something was pushing them further and further into the whirlpool. Everything that had happened so far was only driving them deeper and deeper into the swirling depths. Ever since Akame had survived the forest with Kurome when she had been a child, before she had been chosen to the Elite Seven group and trained by the Empire she had always been able to sense if her life was in danger or not. Despite having this six sense she had developed, she didn't feel like her life was being threatened. Something was off about this entire situation. Tatsumi, deciding to follow Akame's order flew through the chaos that was the whirlpool to the lone ship trailing along the currents, was still forced to swerve amongst both lightning strikes and the water spouts but they landed on the deck of the ship.

"Leone, get to the helm and follow where the current takes us." Akame stated, Leone not even needing to respond as she shot off towards the wheel of the ship. "Tatsumi, take a breather, I'm going to lower the sails." Tatsumi's' head shot up in surprise, she had been the one to recommended that they raise them so that they wouldn't tare now she was deciding to bring them down, he didn't understand what her plan was but would trust her. Deciding taking a breather wasn't in his wheelhouse right now, he assisted Akame in lowering the sails.

Leone did as instructed and followed the current, the ship picking up more and more speed to the point that if they hit anything, there wouldn't much left of the ship let alone them. Both Akame and Tatsumi were up either side of Leone watching the swirling tides only increase in ferocity the deeper they went. Tatsumi's eyes caught sight of a splash of in the distance and turned to look at what had happened, however it wasn't a new waterspout forming. The Whirlpool had grown so large that it was beginning to collapse in on itself.

"Leone, Tatsumi, now!" Akame shouted; all three of them grabbing the wheel of the ship and turning as the walls of the whirlpool began to fall from beneath the ship. With the speed that they were travelling at the ship turned fast and started moving upwards. They were moving fast and the entrance to the whirlpool was getting closer and closer with each passing moment they had a straight shot through the water spouts to the entrance of the whirlpool. However just as they reached the summit of the whirlpool, the waves beneath them caved and with the ship having lost its speed it no longer had the momentum to keep them going up.

Tatsumi equipped Incursio's armour once more, wrapping his arms around both Leone and Akame's waist gripping them tight he leaped from the deck of the ship with incredible force once more. They were above the walls of the whirlpool now amidst the storm above however as the whirlpool collapsed in upon itself the suction of the force was too much for even Tatsumi to escape from, especially with the added weight of two others. The three were dragged down by the suction and hit the water only to be dragged down by the strong currents into the depths.

The three could do nothing but hold onto one another as they stared up at the fading light above, Tatsumi's arms not daring to let either of the two go as they were forced deeper and deeper into the water. Before long darkness completely engulfed the three and there was nothing more any of them could do as they were pulled further into the depths of the ocean by the unnatural currents.

"Can... anyone tell me what just happened." Leone breathed out as she lay on her back, teigu deactivating as she lay down with her fellow Assassins. Both Akame and Tatsumi were in the same situation as Leone. Incursio had dispersed from Tatsumi leaving him drenched just like the other two. Akame was trying to steady her breathing but even for the trained assassin she was finding it hard to understand just what had happened.

Moments ago, they had been being pulled down into the ocean after trying to escape the whirlpool, Tatsumi had done everything that he could to fly them out of danger but there had been nothing that they had been able to do against the unnatural currents that dragged them down into the ocean. Each one of the three thought that it was the end for all of them. But here they were still breathing; even their ship looked to be undamaged from the events. Not only that, there was nothing but clear skies above like the storm they had just entered hadn't even existed. What had just happened? None of them had any clue as to what could possibly be the cause of such a phenomenon.

"We're alive, I don't care how." Tatsumi groaned, feeling the full effects of fighting the currents and the strain it caused Incursio. He had been through so much with the demon armour, yet what he had faced during that storm had been unlike anything else. It was like the storm itself had come out of nowhere just to swallow them whole and there had been nothing any of them had been able to do about it. The fact that they were alive was a miracle in of itself.

"Tatsumi's right." Akame stated, sitting up, ringing out her black hair with her hands. "We're alive, that's all that matters." She concluded as she rose to her feet, offering both of her hands to Leone and Tatsumi, her comrades taking her hands and she pulled them both up to her feet.

"Where do you think that storm took us?" Leone questioned to Akame who frowned as she pulled forth Rongo Rongo from a small pouch strapped to her outer thigh beneath her skirt. Flipping the book open her eyes widened, Leone looked over the shoulder only for her own eyes to widen at what she was seeing. The book was nothing but blank pages. She had seen the contents of the book before when Akame had given them directions or gave weather warnings. Akame flipped to the front of the book only for them both to see writing appearing as if someone was writing in it, the writing already having covered several of the pages and showed no signs of stopping. It was like the book itself was rewriting itself.

"What the..." Leone trailed off.

"Guys, we've got land ahead." Tatsumi called back to them, Akame looking up in surprise as she saw Tatsumi, who was standing on the railing gripping a rope for support as he looked forward to the approaching mass that was an island.

"That's not right, we weren't anywhere near land before we went into the storm." Akame muttered as she looked to Leone, completely unaware of what had happened to them during the storm. Leone frowned as she saw her friend's expression, it wasn't like Akame to show how nervous she was but for a Teigu to suddenly do this was unheard of, not to mention the storm and the events that should have ended their lives. She had suspicions but there was nothing evident. None of this was making sense, but they were alive and together. What ever happened, they would face it together. Slapping both hands onto Akame's cheeks pushing her lips together Leone grinned at her.

"Stop worrying Akame." Leone grinned at her. "We're together, stop stressing." She continued releasing Akame's cheeks making the dark haired assassin rub at each of them. But in the end she offered the blonde a smile and nodded.

The island was completely deserted. It was a small island, only taking twenty minutes or so to scout everything. A beach led to a small jungle and the only inhabitants looked to be birds. Their ship was docked off the shore and Leone was frowning as she looked at it from where she stood on the sand, hands on her hips.

"She's seen better days." Leone muttered to herself. The storm had taken its toll, the sails were shredded, numeros cracks ran along the hull and the holes that the ship now sported had drenched most of their belongings inside, which were now hanging up on makeshift clothes lines that they stationed on the beach to dry out. Watching the water for a time she saw a shadow approach and smiled as Tatsumi breached the water's surface.

"Looks like the keel is still intact." He told her as he trudged out of the water. "Although Wave gave me some details before we left, I don't know everything about ships." He shrugged as Leone threw him a towel.

"As long as we make it to the next port okay, we can get her looked at." Tatsumi nodded as the two looked back at the ship. They had a pretty good time on her so far and it felt like home for the three.

"Is it really okay that we're flying Night Raid's symbol as a flag though?" Tatsumi questioned glancing up at the tallest mast at the red flag with black crow over a yellow crosshairs only causing Leone to wrap her arm around his neck and pull him into an all to familiar embrace.

"Don't worry about it, not like we're ever heading back to the Empire." Leone told him as he struggled to get out of her grip. "And even if we do head back, we'll just take it down." Tatsumi turned away from Leone and looked over to where Akame was seated on a log, the book of Rongo Rongo in her hands, her eyes traveling each new sentence that appeared. She was trying everything to learn about what had happened to them but as of yet it didn't look like she had an answer.

Until they knew what had happened with the book of Rongo Rongo, the best bet was to stay put. It was never a good idea to go into unknown territory especially with Teigu.

"We got just about everything off the ship so it can dry out." Tatsumi sighed knowing even they would have to put it all back, all of their maps were destroyed and no amount of drying them out would help, they'd need to buy new ones when they docked. "I'll get started on what repairs I can do." Leone nodded and decided to help, there was nothing better to do anyway.

The two went about making what repairs they could, awful looking patch jobs but it would hold at least, while Tatsumi did have skills as a blacksmith he was no professional shipwright and Leone made to many jokes about 'nailing' to be of much help.

Akame didn't understand half of what she was reading, none of these new pages that were being written made any sense. In her time of owning Rongo Rongo, she had almost memorised the entire book but now nothing of what she knew was present in this new text. Finally closing the book, letting it rest on her thighs as she rubbed at her eyes. A headache beginning to form. She had been too engrossed reading and afternoon was turning into night. She could hear Tatsumi arguing with Leone as they walked down the beach, it seemed Tatsumi had gone fishing for their dinner and Leone was trying to get them from him. She smiled as the two approached.

"We got dinner." Leone declared as Tatsumi gave her the stink eye, it would seem Leone hadn't done much to help. As night set in, the three enjoyed the meal Tatsumi prepared their cooking equipment was still all in good shape and they had an open fire to cook on. The three settled down into bed rolls surrounding the fire from three sides as they all looked up at the stars.

"One hell of a day." Leone grinned with her hands folded behind her head. "It sure was crazy."

"You can say that again." Tatsumi breathed out, recalling how much chaos had happened in such a short time. The sudden storm, the massive whirlpool and then how it had all just ended. It was hard to even explain how they had survived their ship being dragged into the swirling force of nature, but here they were.

"As long as we're together." Akame began, a small smile on her face as she was illuminated by the light of the fire. "We'll make it through." Grins came to the faces of both Leone and Tatsumi as they agreed heartily.

Leone was laughing as she walked a few feet from Akame who had an adorable pout on her face. The reason for the dark haired young woman being upset was because Tatsumi had sent them into the jungle to find any edible fruits or vegetables. While they had succeeded, it just meant that Akame's all meat diet wouldn't go as planned. Both had armfuls of healthy looking fruit that Tatsumi would no doubt make into something good to eat, while he was no high class cook he had the necessary skills to keep them fed and healthy. He had after all done most of the cooking before Susanoo joined Night Raid.

The two were heading back to the beach, having awoken to Tatsumi already preparing the a meal of fish for them. Their food stores had basically been destroyed in the storm and right now fishing was all that they could do. When the two exited the jungle they were surprised not to find Tatsumi present.

Approaching their small camp they stopped at finding someone else present seated on the ground eating the fish that had been cooking. Akame's face went pale as she saw the remains of the fishbones scattered around dropping the fruit she had gathered in shock gaining the young man's attention as he rose his head up from eating. Leone simply blinked before her ears twitched picking up footsteps and turned to see Tatsumi exiting the jungle a short while away, fixing his pants showing he had obviously just gone to the toilet.

The three members of the notorious assassin group all stared at the black haired youth as he swallowed the last of the fish in his mouth before offering a big grin like he hadn't just eaten their breakfast.

"Sorry, I was really hungry I hadn't eat for a few days." He laughed holding a hand to the back of his head underneath his large orange hat. He wore a simple yellow shirt unbuttoned down the front with black shorts. On his belt buckle was the letter A. "Thank you for the food." He bowed his head. Leone saw Akame beginning to tremble beside her a grinned as she walked forward, the kid was lucky Akame didn't have her swords with her. She had been looking to breakfast since before Tatsumi had sent them off to grab some fruit.

"You ate it all huh?" Leone asked as she placed the fruit she had picked up down on a small tray. "Akame's kinda pissed at you." She told him thrusting a thumb back at her comrade. "Se was really looking forward to breakfast."

"I'll catch some more for lunch Akame." Tatsumi told her as they approached the unknown teen sitting around their campfire as the red eyed assassin approached, her pout clearly present. The young man smiled up at them as he removed his hand letting it rest on his back, the string around his neck holding it in place.

"You guys are lifesavers, it's been three days since I ate anything." He laughed once more, holding a hand to his stomach patting it slightly only increasing Akame's glare. "I thought I was a goner for sure."

"You were lost out there?" Leone asked, taking note that there was a small boat pulled ashore by their ship not far from their camp.

"Something like that." He laughed. "Oh." He got to his feet and bowed his head, recalling his manners. "I'm Portgas D. Ace, it's nice to meet you." He greeted with a smile.

"Leone." The blonde introduced herself. "This here is Tatsumi and Akame." Tatsumi gave a small nod in greeting as Akame continued to glare at him.

"It's nice to meet you." He smiled. "I saw your ship and came without thinking, I really should have waited but the fish smelt good." He explained. "I'll help you catch more as payment."

"Don't worry about it." Tatsumi smiled. "Fruit is good enough for breakfast anyway." He said only hearing a soft gasp from Akame who whipped her head around to look at him only only getting a glare from Tatsumi causing her to pout as she grabbed a piece of fruit from the tray and began to eat it.

"Where you headed?" Leone asked, deciding to get some information at least.

"Me?" Ace smiled. "I'm heading for the Grand Line, to become a pirate." He grinned, however after a few moments of silence he began to feel the atmosphere around the three shift somewhat. Did they not like pirates? Akame's red eyes that were now focusing on him felt a whole lot different from when he had just eaten their morning fish. Leone didn't seem different however a predatory look came to her eyes and Tatsumi's odd coloured eyes showed he was ready for anything. "I don't mean no harm by it." He said waving his hands in front of himself. "I'm just going after the One Piece, like all the other pirates out there. A life full of adventure."

"The One Piece?" Leone questioned turning to Akame and Tatsumi to see if either of them have heard of it before, Akame shook her head while Tatsumi shrugged not clear on what it was either. Turning back to Ace who tilted his head at their reaction. "The heck is a One Piece?" Ace was floored by that, they seriously had no idea what the One Piece was?

"Are you serious? Have you been living under a rock or something!?" He shouted comically. "It's the world's biggest treasure, ring any bells?" He asked looking over their faces but there was nothing showing that they knew what he was talking about. Letting out a sigh, Ace sat back down as he calmed himself. "Seventeen years ago the King of the Pirates left the world his final message, telling everyone that if they can find it, it's theirs. Since then the Great Pirate Era began." He explained to them just like he himself had heard it a thousand times. It wasn't big news, everyone knew about it. But these three… they had no idea what he was talking about.

"Is it a lot?" Leone questioned getting a sigh from Tatsumi.

"We're not going after some fabled treasure Leone." Tatsumi told her. "We're not pirates."

"Why not, it's not like we've got any big plans." Leone laughed smile widening at the prospect of literally bathing in gold coins. "Being a pirate isn't that far from our former occupation now is it?" She asked. Tatsumi opened his mouth to speak but he honestly couldn't come up with a response. They had no set destination since leaving the Empire. They had been on course for Wakoku but they had not settled on what they were doing over there.

"Seventeen years and no one has found it?" Akame questioned, now curious herself about the so called legendary treasure, if it was so famous for pirates wouldn't Wave have mentioned it?

"Apparently not." Ace grinned. "Pirates from all four Blue Seas have ventured to the Grand Line but nobody has found the One Piece yet." He shrugged. "It's not like someone's just going to find it and the world won't find out about it, it's way to big for that."

"Four Blue Sea's? Grandline? One Piece?" Tatsumi thought to himself, none of this was making any sense. If the One Piece was such a massive thing that the entire world knew about it, why hadn't it reached the Empire? Glancing over at Akame he saw that her hand was on the book of Rongo Rongo meaning she was starting to think the same as him. Something really wasn't right here.

"So how long have you been searching for this 'One Piece'?" Leone questioned only for Ace to raise his hand and produce two fingers.

"Three days." He grinned. "I only left home three days ago, My brother and I promised that we wouldn't set out until we were seventeen. He's still got three years before he sets sail." Ace smiled. "So I'm basically a newbie at all this, got to get myself a real pirate crew and make my way to the Grand Line."

Leone laughed as she continued to talk to Ace, unknowing to the teen gaining information without even needing to try that hard to probe for it. Akame had set out to start reading Rongo Rongo again and was clearly picking up on the terms that the young man used in the new text that was being written in the Teigu.

"What about you three? Where are you from?" Ace asked, having just revealed he had sailed from Dawn Island.

"Oh you know, here there and everywhere." Leone grinned as she waved a hand nonchalantly, Ace paused for a moment before nodding with a smile as he got to his feet.

"Well it's been fun, and thank you again for the food." He bowed. "But I really need to get going. My crew isn't going to start itself."

"Maybe we'll see you out there on the Grand Line." Leone suggested, having heard from Ace that it was an incredibly dangerous see with Pirates stronger than anything you'd come across in the Blue Seas, especially the East Blue where apparently they currently were. If that didn't get her animal traits pumping, nothing would.

"I'll look forward to it, I'll treat you guys next time." He told them as he walked down the beach to his small boat. The three watched him push his boat into the surf before jumping in and unfurling the sails, the fabric catching the breeze and sending him off. The teen waved back at them long until he was just a spec on the horizon.

"Thoughts?" Leone questioned knowing that Akame and Tatsumi would have their own opinions on what they head learned from the young man.

"This isn't normal, by any means." Akame suggested.

"It's not possible, is it?" Tatsumi asked. "It was just an out of the ordinary storm, right?" He questioned again looking to Leone and Akame who frowned at what was being suggested here. They had dealt with alot of weird stuff in their time, from Teigu that could warp space and send you somewhere far off in an instant to the weapons all three used. Did that mean that a Danger Beast had caused that storm and somehow caused them to wind up here?

"I'm no expert." Leone smiled as she got to her feet, folding her hands behind her head as she looked down at the two. "But even if it were true and all of this is actually what we think that it is… what's the big deal?" She asked. "We're here now, no need to turn back. Let's make the most of what we have. It's not like a chance like this is dropping in our lap everyday."

"Leone's right." Akame smiled as she closed her eyes, closing Rongo Rongo in her lap, her hands gently resting on its cover. "We're together and safe." She continued. "It doesn't matter where we are, as long as that fact is true, I don't care."

"Sorry." Tatsumi smiled briefly. "I just figured that maybe, even if just once we'd end up going back home eventually." He shrugged.

"Who knows maybe some freaky weird storm will send us back there someday." Leone laughed. "But until then."

"We have a whole new world to discover." Akame smiled, it may not have been the same vision she had seen but it would no doubt be a wonderful experience for the former Assassins. "This version of Rongo Rongo is so much more detailed than it's previous version."

"A whole new world." Tatsumi smiled. "I guess there could be worse things to do in our retirement." He chuckled.

"Well what about this One Piece? Think it's worth heading after?" Leone asked.

"Rongo Rongo is still rewriting itself so not everything is given just quite yet and I don't know how long until we have all the answers." Akame explained. "But I think we should find a port to fix up our ship first. If we're heading for the Grand Line we'll need to be in top condition if it's as dangerous as Ace says." The three glanced over to their ship and awkwardly smiled at the rough repairs. Akame frowned slightly however knowing that she would no doubt have to wield her weapons to kill again, even if it was to protect herself.

Glancing at Leone and Tatsumi a smile replaced the frown, she would do it to protect those two without a second thought. This would be a new adventure for them, yes fighting might be apart of it but it'd be different from Night Raid's path of bloodshed. Instead they'd make it one that they'd be proud of.