"My boy." She said, her voice gentle but I could tell power radiated behind it. Her pinkish-strawberry blonde hair, that closely resembled my hair color but streaked with white as it cascaded around her in waves almost to her waist. Her skin wasn't as tanned as my father's and she was only a few inches shorter than him. Her blue-green hazel eyes looked him up and down and I noticed a beauty mark just under the left side of her left eye. She pulled him into a tight hug and I could almost hear his bones cracking from here.
'Still strong for an old bird, huh?' Omen commented, coming up beside Shanks as we stood at the end of the deck watching them.
'Looks like it.' I agreed. When she freed him I noticed similar markings on her like my father had. Though, hers were different colors except for one that was the same yellow-green and the same symbol of what almost looked like a lightning bolt in the center. 'What are those symbols? I forgot to ask.' I said.
I got so used to seeing my father with four of them; the yellow-green one was a band of swirls around his left upper arm with the symbol in the outer center of it. One I had noticed when he'd slept on the floor of my room one night with me as it was dark red swirls surrounding what looked like a dark red droplet with two dots on either side of it and a third dot just above it on his right hip. One was a fire red symbol that looked like a small flame with a semi-circle cut through the bottom of it and a dot in the center of it (if it was a full circle) surrounded by swirls or fire red on his left pectoral. The last one looked like a bronze-brown symbol that almost looked like one of those old time scales surrounded by a few bronze-brown swirls here and there on the right side of his neck. I wasn't sure if he had anymore but I'd gotten so accustomed to seeing them I'd completely forgotten that he didn't have those in the One Piece series.
My grandmother had the yellow-green symbol surrounded by a few swirls on the back of her left hand. A dark forest green woven band of swirls was on her right wrist with a symbol of leaves growing around a swirl of a branch and a dot nestled between the leaves and branch almost like a seed. Her slightly low-cut shirt revealed a corn yellow symbol of swirls extending from both her collar bones down her sternum almost like a cross without the top and in the center where the three lines of swirls met was a dot with five kite shaped symbols fanning out around the bottom half of the dot. I wasn't sure if she had anymore either but I thought I caught sight of yellow-orange swirls peeking around her left shoulder thanks to the white tank top she was wearing as she moved my father out of her way to get a look at us kids.
They were very detailed, both sets of their tattoos. 'It's the unique power of the Silvers Clan.' He said peaking my interest. 'You'll get some, too.' He added and sweat gathered at the nape of my neck at the thought of getting tattooed. I only had two in my previous life and they were rather small and depending on what age they do them here…
'It isn't like the tattoos from your world, Bo. They're magic, not regular ink tattoos.' He said after feeling me worrying. Relief washed through me as I heard my father introducing Shanks and Buggy to her then he picked me up from Shanks' arms and showed me off to my grandmother.
"And this is my daughter, Isabo." He introduced me and her face lit up like a kid on christmas morning.
"My first grandbaby!" She squealed and snatched me from his arms and held me close to her chest. I giggled and threw my arms up excitedly. Might as well look hella cute for her. "Oh she's just precious." She cooed and held my hand with one of her fingers. I looked behind me to my father and his eyes held a sort of sadness I wasn't familiar with. I let go of her hand and reached my arms out to him.
"Da!" I called out to him. Tears brimmed his eyes but he picked me up from her arms and held me gingerly to his chest.
"I need to have a sit down with you and Samuel." He said looking back to my grandmother. She nodded and turned on her heel leading us from the docks towards a stone path that took us up to the houses that I had seen earlier. "Boys, how about you go play with Nova and the other pups on one of the training grounds, I'll find you later." He looked back to them and they excitedly ran off after Nova and the four other pups, Omen staying right next to him.
"Why did this one not go with them?" Grandmother inquired as she pointed at Omen.
"He's her familiar." He said and she gasped, looking between the two of us in awe. "And that's not the best part." He said and bent down, letting my feet touch the ground and allowed me to stand on my own. She gawked at me as I stood there by myself.
"How old is she?" She asked, brow furrowed.
"A little over four months." He said.
'Oh, that's how old I am I didn't realize.' I hummed.
"Keep watching." He said. "Bo Bo, go to grandma." He instructed softly with a smile. I looked from him to her then started walking towards her, wobbling as I stepped over the stones and once I was close enough I grabbed her leg and held myself there.
"How is that possible?" She gasped. She leaned down as I reached my arms out for her and she picked me up.
"Gran-ma" I touched her cheek and she looked me straight in the eyes. It was almost like she was looking into my soul the way she stared at me until she finally looked up to Rayleigh.
"She's a prodigy." Was the only word she seemed to find that fit what I was, even if I was just an adult's mind in an infant's body.
'Please tell me you curators didn't make me too OP in this world.' I groaned to Omen.
'OP?' He asked me. For a piece of one of them you'd think he'd know…
"Overpowered.' I huffed as I snuggled close to my grandmother. They started heading towards one of the buildings and I noticed they all looked mostly the same, save for a few different exterior items laid out in front of them. They were dark wood and white paper walled traditional japanese homes and they were gorgeous.
'We simply gave back what was already yours. What you do with it and how you hone it is up to you.' He said mysteriously.
'What do you mean 'already yours'?' I asked looking over her shoulder at him as he trotted next to my father.
'I only remember that. Not what or why.' He said.
"Ughh, you're giving me more questions than answers, Omen!' I growled at him through the bond. I could feel the shrug he sent back to me.
'I told you, I only know what the others allowed me to. If I knew too much it might compromise your future and not for the better.' He said, trying to justify what he's told me so far. I didn't feel any hint of a lie in his words so I'll have to just trust him until he gives me a reason not to.
We came up to a house with a wind chime hanging from one of the cross beams, it was dark blue in color with black and dark blue birds with long tails as the chimes. It let out soft little chimes here and there from the light breeze that blew through this cluster of houses. My grandmother knocked on the wood of the door and waited for whoever was in there to answer.
The door opened abruptly and a beautiful woman with long wavy chocolate brown hair tied back in a ponytail that draped over her shoulder and stopped just below her bosom. Her skin was porcelain white and plump red lips and the most beautiful set of sapphire blue I'd ever seen. She was taller than my grandmother but still shorter than my father. She looked from my grandmother to Rayleigh then her eyes finally settled on me, her eyes widening as realization dawned on her.
"Ray-Ray had a baby!" She squealed just as loud as my grandmother had. She jumped up and down, her arms shaking in excitement.
'Not the reaction I was expecting.' I blinked a few times as she disappeared into her home then suddenly reappeared and dragged a full grown man right behind her.
"Sammy, Ray-Ray has a baby girl!" She squealed again, jumping up and down while pointing at me. My grandmother and father both chuckled at her antics while this Sammy recovered from her dragging him across the house by his collar.
It took awhile for them to calm down and after hugs they invited us into their tearoom, my father and grandmother sitting on one side of the dark wood chabudai and Samuel and the brunette headed to the other side. The brown haired beauty from before practically pried me from my grandmother's arms and sat me in her lap, Omen laying against my aunt her thigh. I'd found out her name was Ashling and that she's married to Samuel who happens to be my father's younger brother and my uncle. He looked a lot like my father but his strawberry blonde hair was close cropped and his face was clean shaven and he was lightly tanned but not as tan as my father. I doubt they get out in the sun as much as him. But, there were differences in their appearance but you could clearly tell they were closely related.
My aunt Ash started feeding me this sugary rice puree that I for some reason could not get enough of. It was fucking delicious. "We weren't expecting you back so soon and definitely not with an infant. What's going on?" Uncle Sammy asked, getting right to the point. My ears perked up as I might finally get some answers from him even though he didn't realize it.
"I wasn't expecting her to show up on my ship either." He said honestly.
"Who's her mother?" My aunt Ash asked. I tried not to react but I was so damn curious about my mother. Was she someone famous? Was she a villain or something?
"Temperance." He said. The name didn't ring any bells. Racking my brain through the series I've watched I don't recall anyone by that name unless she's from a series I didn't watch or read. I hadn't even realized how quiet it had gotten while I was lost in my thoughts until my grandmother cleared her throat.
"Well, that's not ideal. Where's she now?" She asked and my ears perked up.
"She died shortly after giving birth to Bo Bo." My father said, sadness taking over his features. A sense of loss slammed into me, my heart aching with sorrow from a woman I didn't even know but who gave me new life. I couldn't stop the tears that fell from my eyes, my aunt gingerly wiping them away and kissing my forehead to comfort me.
"I'm so sorry." My grandmother said, gripping his hand to comfort him.
"I'm sorry she won't be here to watch Bo grow." He said as he wiped a stray tear from my cheek across the short table. "Her family isn't what concerns me." He started, getting back to the conversation at hand. "That little wolf there is her familiar." My aunt and uncle gasped. "This won't be easy to ask but I can't a hundred percent protect her out at sea but I know for sure she'll be protected here." He confided and my heart dropped.
'He wouldn't.' I could feel my heart pounding against my rib cage as dread washed over me.
"Would you be willing to take her in?" He said, the other shoe finally dropping. It felt like my world shattered around me, the door behind him slamming open.
"No! She's our sister, you can't leave her here!" Shanks yelled, tears running down his cheeks.
"We'll protect her!" Buggy screamed just behind Shanks, tears running down his face as well. My father ignored them and kept his gaze locked with my uncle's.
"We'll protect her." Samuel said finally. I couldn't keep it in anymore as tears poured from my eyes.
"Da!" I reached out for him but he stood from the table and turned his back to me. "Daaa!" I screamed, trying to wriggle my way out of my aunt's arms. Shanks and Buggy started to run towards me but my father grabbed them and tucked them between his arms.
"I love you, Bo Bo." Was all he said as he walked out the door, the boys kicking and screaming at him. I caught sight of Nova out the door and she turned her back and followed him, her pups whimpering with their ears down as they followed her.
"Daaa!" I screamed again but I couldn't get out of her hold. My grandmother closed the door, tears silently escaping her eyes as she looked down at me. I screamed and cried, my heart feeling like it was ripped from my chest. Even Omen was whimpering beside me. 'No! This isn't right! He can't leave me!' I couldn't hear Shanks' and Buggy's screams anymore. They were really gone.