Let's get this started!

I own nothing from one Piece.

Chapter One

Tragedy befell my wife and child. The world stole them from me. Such a cruel beast she is, but I will have a family. I will have a daughter whom I may pamper and lavish, worship like the treasure she is. I will have a child that this world will never take from me. ~ Taken from page one of Ryuuden the doll maker's journal.

The low burning fire broke through the filthy windows of the workshop, banishing the only a small amount of the fast approaching darkness. The sun had just began to set, darkness barely overtaking the world. This slight darkness caused a decrepit look to swell around the old workshop whose architecture dated back nearly a hundred years.

A lone figure moved around inside the workshop.

"Father, I know you've only been gone a day, but I miss you terribly." The lone figures voice was rough and harsh. It sounded as though the simple act of speaking was causing two pieces of hard plastic to grind together. A sound that could not be human. "I can't wait for you to return. Because then. . . . . Because then. . . . . . Because then . . . . . . Because then you'll be able to make me alive and we'll be a real family. Just like you wanted, Father." The repetition in the figures speech was preceded by a jerking halt to all motions.

The low flickering candle light danced on skin made of cream colored satin. It shone on long hair made of threads of silk dyed the deepest of blacks. And it reflected off of perfect pastel green eyes made of the most carefully molded glass. This being moved in a bizarre jerky way, like a machine struggling to work. Slowly all of her motions halted and she stood still.

She looked no longer like something capable of moving, but of a perfectly made doll that had been positioned. And that is what she is. Nothing more, nothing less.

She is a doll.

Time moved on while the doll remained in position. Darkness finally fell and still no movement from the beautiful doll.

Slowly, the door to the workshop creaked open and in hobbled a man far from his prime. Gnarled hands carefully grasped a cane, as he made his way towards the doll. His body was hunched from age making him shorter then the doll. He gazed at the doll with a defeated sadness. How long has it been since he started his nightly visits? Even he couldn't remember.

With a lot of struggle and several fumbles, the old man managed to maneuver the doll through the house and into a bed. He sighed as his shaky gnarled hands began probing lines of thick black stitches marring the perfect satin skin. His fingers found a place were the stitches had torn. He mended them with a skill only gained by decades of practice. Once that task was completed, his gnarled hands carefully grasped a bow that was knotted tightly an inch below the hollow of her throat. With several tugs the bow came undone, leaving the old hands free to carefully unlace the silk ribbon. As the ribbon was unlaced a single opening that extended from just below where the bow had sat, when fastened, down between the dolls breasts to stop just above her naval where another bow sat. The man only unlaced the ribbons to just below the doll's breasts. Once that was done, he carefully pulled open the satin skin revealing what appeared to be a rib cage made of pure white marble.

Where the sternum should have been a type of latch took it's place. Hands carefully clicked the latch open, before pulling the left side of the marble ribs up just enough for a gnarled hand to slip inside.

His hand sifted through a cool gel like substance before clasping onto what he was searching for. With a care one would only show to the most fragile and expensive of objects, the old man pulled the object from the dolls chest. Strings of thick black twine pulled out with the object in the man's hand. The twine was melded with the sides of the object and vanished back into the doll's chest.

"Look's like your heart stopped again." The man's voice, gruff with age, echoed in the cold workshop. In his hand was something that was in almost the same shape as a human heart. It was made of metal that had rusted with centuries of existence. Swirls of tribal markings and runes from an unknown language covered the metal heart. Those old hands gently opened the metal heart to reveal three slots carved into the metal. Two of those slots contained gems made of a stone with no name, a stone that was virtually unknown to the world. These two stones colors shifted on their own at an uneven rate. Both stones shone with their own faint light. In the third slot was what appeared to be a glistening powder.

"That diamond didn't last you very long did it?" The man tipped the heart, allowing the diamond dust to dance down into the palm of his shaking hand. "I managed to get a bigger one this time, so hopefully you'll get a few more days out of it." He allowed the dust to flutter down to the ground before pulling out a diamond barely half the size of the two other stones. The diamond was slid into place. The heart was snapped shut. Slowly, a gentle hum filled the air as the markings on the rusted heart filled with a glistening white light. "There we go." The heart was replaced. The marble ribs were latched shut. The satin flesh was laced closed and the silk ribbon was tied into a tight secure bow.

The doll's glass eyes gained the shimmer of life before blinking. A smile spread perfectly painted pink lips showing beautiful white marble teeth.

"Hello, Gama." The doll sat herself up. She readjusted her top to cover her upper body again. The doll's voice sounded melodic now, not like grinding plastic, and her movements were fluid. " If you've come to see Father, you just missed him. He left yesterday morning and he won't be back for some time. He's gone to find the last of the life stones for me. So we can be a family! Isn't that great?" The doll stood from bed and began happily prancing around as she started doing odd chores.

"That's too bad, Marcy." The old man Gama's face was shadowed, his voice tight. "I wanted to speak with him before he left, but hopefully he'll be back soon." He forced a laugh. How many decades had he said this to her day after day? He was barely twenty when it started from what he could remember.

He was nearly ninety now.

Slowly the old man departed from the old workshop heading to his home. He didn't know what would be crueler. If he left her frozen as a doll, no longer alive to relive the same day over and over or if he continued to let her live like this? He'd decided that both were cruel. He'd decided that he would keep her alive till he himself died. Hopefully, he would die soon.

The next day, a single pirate ship cast it's anchor to the side of the island near the cliff where the old workshop stood.

"C'mon you guys! I'm hungry!" A boy in a red vest shouted from his seat on top of the ship's figure head.

"You wouldn't be hungry if you didn't eat all of our supplies!" an orange haired woman shouted as she slammed her fist into the back of the boy's head.

"It's not my fault I eat a lot!" The boy whined while the other three members of the crew gathered at the front of the ship.

"Oh yeah?" The orange haired woman's eyebrow twitched. "Then whose fault is it?"

"Sanji's." The boy said as if it was obvious.

"How the hell is it my fault!?" A blonde man shouted at the boy.

"You should have stocked more meat." Before the blonde man could retaliate, a man with a long nose cut in.

"Are you sure this island is inhabited?"

"Isn't it obvious?" A man with green hair said as he pointed to the workshop on the top of the cliff. "There's a house right there."

"That's not a house. It's a workshop." The orange haired woman said as she prepared to climb off the ship. "This island was famous for it's toy makers."

"Toy makers?" Long nose questioned as the rest of the crew left the ship.

"Yeah, a man named Ryuuden used to make dolls here, he stopped decades ago and now his dolls sell for several hundred thousand berris each." The group slowly worked their way up the trail, lead by the boy in the vest who was chanting 'meat, meat, meat, meat' to himself.

"If his dolls were so famous why'd he stop?" Long nose questioned again. The orange haired woman sighed aggravated.

"How should I know?"

"Well with the way you were talking, I assumed you knew the whole story."

"The only thing I know about him is the fact that his dolls sell for a lot! I don't care about the rest!"

"I don't care about dolls! I want meat!" The boy in the vest shouted throwing both arms into the air.

"I'm gunna agree with Luffy. We're here for supplies, not dolls." The green haired man said a hand cautiously placed on his swords. He could feel something just dancing on the edges of his senses. His eyes zeroed in on the workshop on the edge of the cliff. He could just barely see it from this angle. His eyes narrowed when he caught a glimpse of what could only be the blackest hair he'd ever seen. "Let's hurry up and get our supplies so we can leave."

"What's this?" The blonde smirked. "Are you scared, Marimo?"

"I'm not scared, Shit cook." His eyes searched for the person he'd seen, but couldn't find it. He turned to the blonde. "I've just got a bad feeling about this place."

"You mean the person watching us?" The blonde lit a cigarette and took a long drag from it.

"Yeah."

"W-w-what!?" Long nose began to shiver and look around rapidly. "Someone's watching us!?"

"Don't worry." The green haired man gave a vicious grin. "If they attack we'll be ready for them."

"Uh, guys?" The woman asked as she stopped in her tracks.

"Don't fear, Nami!" The blonde placed a hand over his heart while he stretched the other out to his side. "I'll defend you! No one shall lay a hand your beautiful body."

"Thanks, but that's not the problem."

"Hmmm? Then what is?"

"Luffy's gone." The phrase 'damn it' went through everyone's minds as they took off at a running pace up the path.

The boy in the vest who'd wondered from his friends, stood in front of the old workshop sitting on the cliff. His face was serious as he marched towards the door. He was a man on a mission. His hand grasped the handle to the door and he threw it open.

"Anyone home!?" No answer was given as he stepped inside the workshop. Rows of shelves filled with dolls and doll parts filled the front room. His eye's were drawn to a door that was partially open. "Hey! Anyone home!? I'm hungry!" The boy took a few more steps inside before pausing. "Guess no one's home. Man, and I'm still really hungry. I don't know if I'll make it the village."

"Hello?" A melodic voice asked from behind the boy. He turned around with a confused look on his face as he stared at the woman behind him. He noted the shiny clothe like appearance of her skin and the ribbon that was laced into her skin. His black eyes met her pale almost milky green eyes. They looked like glass and seemed almost empty. "Do you need something?" He blinked twice before grinning brightly at the woman. She gave him a small peaceful smile that didn't reach her glass eyes.

"Yeah. Can you tell me where the nearest restaurant is?" Her smile grew.

"How about I just show you? You look like the type to get lost."

"That'd be great! Thank you!" She began to walk off and he followed happily humming to himself and swinging his arms.

"I'm Marcy, Ryuuden's daughter. Who are you?"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm a pirate!"

"A pirate?"

"Yup!" Her glass eyes flashed with something Luffy couldn't quiet figure out, but it looked a bit like curiosity.

"My father left yesterday morning, did you happen to see his ship on your way here?" There was a barely burning excitement in her eyes. "His ship's green like my eyes."

"Hmmmmm." Luffy thought for a long moment. "Nope! Haven't seen a single ship!" Disappointment flashed through those glass eyes. She didn't say another word as she led him down the path to the village. Luffy watched her from the corner of his eye. Something was off about her, but he couldn't figure out what exactly.