Curious as to what these five elders wanted, Lucas handed Luna over to Vivi for a while and told the others to stay there as he followed the elders inside.
As he followed along, he looked over at the impressive halls and expensive displays and paintings on the way.
In his mind, he couldn't help but nod in appreciation.
Not bad. Not bad.
His attitude was as if he was looking for a house and is being guided by real estate agents. If the five elders knew what he was thinking, they would probably spat out blood.
Soon, they arrived in a rather wide and large hall.
At the end of a hall were two platforms, one on top of the other. There was a long staircase in the middle which ultimately leads to a tall chair at the very top.
There were all sorts of swords stabbed on the platforms. Lucas wondered what those swords were for.
He frowned in his mind.
I'm gonna need to remove those sharp things. What would happen if Luna gets hurt while playing here?
...Lucas was already acting like he owned the place…
Lucas looked at the throne at the top. It was empty.
He looked back towards the five elders and asked.
"And? What are we doing here?"
Lucas asked. However, the five elders didn't pay him any attention at all. All of a sudden, they kneeled in front of the empty throne.
Frowning, he looked back and saw a figure moving towards the empty throne.
That figure was wearing a long black robe and wore a tall crown.
Lucas' frown deepened as he saw this figure.
That face...that white hair...Lucas felt that person to be very familiar. Yet at the same time, he knew that he had never seen that person before in his life.
The person smiled and sat on the throne.
"Im-sama!"
"We, the Five Elders…"
"Are here before you!"
Im-sama?
Lucas was unaware of the existence of this Im-sama in One Piece. Actually, everything after the Whole Cake Island arc was unknown to Lucas. He wasn't sure if all these are really as they were in the original story or the story had already changed beyond recognition.
In any case, that damn Im-sama is sitting in such a high position that it annoys him…
Lucas then felt Im's gaze fall on him.
"...Your name is Lucas...correct?"
"...That's right."
In the end, Lucas was ultimately still curious as to where this whole thing will lead so he didn't act up for now.
It was as if he's simply an observer. An audience. An outsider…
Im's gaze continued to look at Lucas for a few more moments. Finally, she revealed a smile.
Right. Im was a woman. A rather beautiful one at that. She had long white hair and facial features that Lucas felt very familiar.
Her hand extended forward and called for Lucas.
"Come here. Let me take a good look at you."
"...Sorry?"
"What's wrong? Hasn't your father told you about me, his big sister?"
".........................."
The whole hall was filled with silence.
Lucas' jaw opened and continued to drop to the ground.
"...Hah?"
What? Father? Father's big sister?
NANI!!!???
Im smiled and didn't mind Lucas' reaction.
"You can call me Aunt Im. Come, my nephew."
Lucas snapped out of it and looked at Im in confusion.
His wings spread out behind him as he flew over to the top of the platform to take a closer look at Im.
Taking a closer look, Lucas found out why Im looked familiar to him even though he never met her before. She resembles his father a lot...whether it was the white hair or those striking red eyes and expression...is she really his aunt!?
But...how can that be? He wasn't from this world!
Maybe...it's another parallel world doppelganger? Then his father also has a doppelganger here?
Lucas' head was filled with many questions that needed answers.
Landing in front of Im, he looked at her suspiciously and asked.
"Are you really...my aunt?"
"Has Mi not mentioned me?"
"...Mi?"
Mii? Is it that avatar thing from Nintendo consoles?
Just as Lucas' mind was getting off track, Im sighed.
"He must be using a different name then...is it Michael perhaps?"
"Right…"
Lucas' father was indeed named Michael. So was Mi a nickname or something? Isn't it supposed to be Mike instead?
Im smiled and nodded.
"I suppose he never told you about me...I guess it makes sense. We...had a very complicated past."
Lucas didn't say anything and simply listened to her story.
How convenient, she is going to start telling her story now and I don't need to ask too many questions later…
Im continued to explain.
"You see, your father and I are children of the True Royalty in this world. This throne is called the Empty Throne. None would dare to sit on it as it is an oath that the Kings and Queens of the various countries in the World Government are equal. A symbol that none must harbor the greed to rule them all. The greed of dictatorship."
Lucas then looked at Im who continued to sit at this very throne…
"...Aren't you a greedy one then?"
Im chuckled and asked.
"How is it? Do you want to sit here?"
"Nah. Sounds too troublesome."
Hearing his answer, Im smiled.
"You sound just like your father."
Then, she sighed again.
"It isn't that I wanted to sit on this throne as well. It is merely my duty. You would think that for such a throne, anyone would want to sit on it and rule the world. However...when I and your father were born as the next in line for the throne, both of us didn't want to sit on it. It's just that we didn't dare to say no to our parents in the past."
Im showed a wry smile.
Lucas could also understand as he knew his father. He hates troublesome things like this…
In fact, in the past, he was about to be promoted to a managerial job. But since he found it very troublesome, he resigned the following day and switched to another job...he was that kind of person.
It wasn't that their family was rich either. But they weren't poor as well. It was enough for them just to get by and Lucas wasn't one to be needy as well.
To Lucas, only his smartphone and PC was needed in his life…
Im continued.
"As my little brother, Mi was a troublemaker. He often went out and did as he pleased. It was very stressful you know?"
"..."
Lucas' face twitched when he heard that.
Damn old man. Dared to scold me in the past for fooling around...it seems you were also fooling around in the past!
"I thought he was doing something suspicious so I tried to follow him outside one time...then I got lost."
"..."
Are you Zoro!?
"Somehow, I ended up on a strange island in the Grand Line too."
Are you sure you're not Zoro's mother instead!?
Lucas retorted in his mind.
"I...was stuck on the island for a while. There, I met a man. He helped me when I needed help and told me a lot of things about the world when I never knew anything outside the palace...things progressed and we ended up falling in love."
Lucas was speechless...what sort of cliche romance story is this!?
Im showed a sad smile.
"But all good things must come to an end...it was impossible for the two of us to be together. Our statuses were too different. It was only a matter of time for my family to find me...and when they did, they killed everyone on that island…"
"..."
"I wasn't even punished severely...they just scolded me for a while then locked me up in my room. However, this changed after a few months had passed. They found out I was pregnant."
Im sighed and looked at her own belly as if reminiscing the time she was pregnant.
"Our parents were furious. They were so angry that they gave me a death sentence! I was supposed to die along with my unborn child that day...but your father did something even more unforgivable."
Lucas frowned at her story.
"What did he do?"
Im was expressionless as she looked at Lucas.
"He killed our parents."
"...Huh?"
Shaking her head, Im explained.
"It was my fault. He probably did it for me...after killing our parents, your father took a very special Devil Fruit and escaped. With him gone and our parents dead...I was the only one left to succeed the throne. No one cared anymore that I was sullied by a man outside as I sat on this throne...your father did all that just to let me live…"
Lucas frowned again.
"Can't he just help you escape instead? Must he do something so extreme?"
Im shook her head.
"It's useless. There is no place in the world where I could escape where my father won't find me. After all, he is a devil fruit user as well."
"What devil fruit?"
Im smiled.
"The World Devil Fruit."
World…?
"Frankly speaking, it was a devil fruit that lets you control the world...very powerful, isn't it? This fruit was repeatedly passed on to the person who sits on this throne. It is thanks to this ability...that we can rule over all."
"..."
Lucas was surprised.
Such an overpowered ability exists!? The World Devil Fruit…
"Your father was only able to kill our father with a surprise attack. That time, our father was so angry at me and kept shouting at me...no one expected at all for Mi to suddenly stab him in the back. Back then...I could tell that even Mi was shocked by his actions. It was probably a subconscious reaction...he didn't plan it. He just acted on impulse…"
Lucas sighed.
Well, one won't normally be so on guard against your own child...such an overpowered person died just like that. Lucas wanted to laugh but wasn't able to bring himself to do so. In the end, he could only sigh deeply.
"As you know, once a devil fruit user dies, the devil fruit reforms in another place. We had controlled this and had a special tree in the palace so the transfer would be smooth whenever the next in line would need it."
"Then...you have that power now?"
Im shook her head.
"I told you that after killing our father, your father took a special Devil Fruit. The one he took was none other than the World Devil Fruit."
"..."
Lucas was speechless once again.
This day had too many shocking things explained to him that he thought he had grown numb already...but he still kept getting surprised.
"Then...where is he now?"
Im chuckled.
"Isn't that something I should be asking you?"
"Err…"
Right...but what am I supposed to say? Is the person she's talking about really my father? Or just my father's doppelganger?
After all, I'm from a different world…
Suddenly, Lucas felt as if he just realized something.
A different...world?
Im smiled and looked as if she could tell what Lucas was thinking.
"Actually, me and your father had talked about it in the past...about what we would do should we gain the World Devil Fruit's power. That time...he suggested a very unique...and bold idea."
"...You don't mean…!?"
"Mn. If I'm right...were you born in another world?"
"!!!"
--------------------------------------
AN: Dun dun dunnnnnn!!!
Sorry this one took a while, had to carefully write this to make sure there's no plot hole...actually, I feel like there's still something wrong but no matter, I'll just go with it!
Also, everything from here on is really very different from canon now since...well, all these things haven't been revealed in the original story yet.
I don't know if Im is a woman. Or what Im looks like. Or what kind of character Im has...so I just went about with using something convenient for me as a backstory.
Slowly, Lucas' own origin is already being explained and the truth about his parents will be revealed. And I think everyone has already guessed it right about Im's supposed 'child' but I'll leave the reveal on the next chapter.
As I explained in the Reborn as Batman's Little Brother, the main reason why I haven't been able to write much is because I now share my PC with my lil bro since his laptop died. Of course, I prioritize playing instead of writing whenever it's my turn... XD
That's it, see ya next chap!