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Before you open what lies below here...a fair warning. There is a lot.
I have divided what exist below into Main and Side categories.
Main tie into the overarching story of Pirate Age, its handy info if you want to know what's happened within the world, this will help in case there are blanks you want filled, it however is not 'mandatory' for understanding the overarching story, it's in-betweens that tie in enough not to be side stories completely.
Sides are akin to the Prophet Diaries, handy info but not anything you need to know for the main story. Read at your own discretion essentially but less than main.
I've also divided them into Pre Bonifaas and Post Bonifaas to help with the timeline.
With that said good luck.
Anything out in the open is just my regular posts, wanted easy clarification for that one which is above
Anyway yeah enjoy.
Main
Pre- Bonifaas
In front of Runali sat Seliria and Caleb, the two Nova's happening to run into each other considering the varying circumstances that brought each closer to Stardusk. Seliria did not look pleased to be near the Nova shipwright and Caleb...well looked like Caleb. He seemed pleased to meet with the Captain at least that's what Seliria said, his face remained the same state it always was in front of her though.
Seliria had called for the Captain's time, making sure to get a fair distance from Stardusk afterwards, she had Caleb ensure they didn't have any extra ears, having him put up one of his inventions, which apparently would make any extra listeners….painfully obvious as she liked to put it as he handed the Captain a pendant to wear.
She seemed to take extra precautions once they were a far enough difference, she didn't say it in so many words but she did mention the 'fate' of her shipwright was something they had to discuss, and it would be better done privately at first, after that she could decide what she wanted to do.
The woman had led them to a tavern once night fell, a few coin slipped to the bartender and the place was emptied, with even the bartender stepping out, once he set a few mugs down for them.
"I know taking you from your precious crew is heartbreaking but we have to talk about Luro Makachi...especially now."
"Don't think I've ever been in a quiet tavern…" Runali was fiddling with the pendant and looking around. "Cool." She commented and took a sip from the mug closest to her. At first it looked as if she didn't hear Seliria but after attention broke from her short inspection she looked back at the two with a raised brow. "Ah, they worry. It's nice, but we'll be fine. Unless something blows up then the first mate and the doctor will be rushing here post haste." She waved her hand, dismissing the thought when she realized it wasn't important.
"What'd he do? Did he break something? Because whatever's broken, there's no proof unless he said it but who's really at fault if you let him get near whatever he broke. Whatever it was, not paying for it." She shook her head, making her decision final. "Not because I can't. Just because I don't want to. Unless… it's a rematch with Alton, then I'll consider it." Halfway through pleading her case, she figured she was nowhere near the point Seliria was trying to make but she figured she'd carry on anyway, just to get her own point across. But it was obvious she was finished when she grabbed the mug again and gestured for the two to continue.
Caleb opened his mouth when Runali touched the pendant but closed it when nothing happened, he started writing in his notebook.
"Touching pendant within Zone does not kill wearer, good to note," Caleb said before glancing at Seliria.
The woman was gripping her glass tightly her eye twitching as the Captain spoke, clearly not pleased the topic had moved away and much less they were the accused all of a sudden. Caleb reached over and removed the now cracked glass from her hand setting it to the side. Seliria clearly liked Runali, she actually showed a bit of restraint there for a second. He didn't speak such words out loud as he was attached to his arms. He offered a small shake of his head at Runali's mention of Alton.
"Not for us to decide, Captains will be Captain's," Caleb said. "I will pass along your desire however."
Seliria shut her eyes composing herself for a moment before looking over at Caleb.
"I vote we go back and let him remain ignorant," the woman said. "I have little patience for this today."
"We came all this way Seliria, and it was your idea to share this knowledge. Let's see it through. We have our reasons after all."
Seliria brought a hand to her face and squeezed the bridge of her nose but didn't move, after a moment her shoulders dropped a bit and she looked back at Runali folding her hands on the table.
"If your Carpenter broke something of mine he wouldn't be walking and I don't care what he breaks of Calebs, our business is something else," the woman said. "There's something about your Carpenter you and your friends have missed."
"Not that it's any fault of yours," Caleb added. "It's not something you really notice, if the person themselves don't even know then no one else is going too."
Caleb said this filling in the blanks Seliria always forgot to.
"We did research of our own and just now were able to confirm it," Caleb said.
Seliria shook her head still not able to believe she was going to say this.
"Luro Makachi has Observation Haki," the woman said. "Very advanced Observation Haki. On par with Caleb's."
"Perhaps better," the man added.
Seliria glanced at Caleb at this before looking back to Runali.
"We have a general idea of its strength from our tests, he without a doubt possesses it."
"Thank you Caleb." Runali murmured into her mug. Her gaze was casted downwards, not having to see the glass to know it was broken. Runali just didn't want Seliria to know she found it amusing, so she stayed quiet and let her speak. There were limits to testing the cook's patience after all. Sometimes.
As the two continued, the conversation felt… familiar, but with new faces. For a moment her attention was on figuring out why there was so much familiarity, only to blink when the words 'observation haki' echoed. "...Hm...so that's what the cat was talking about." Runali muttered to herself. Part of her guessed it was something like that but another part of her didn't care to dig deeper. She trusted Luro and his abilities-- and one of his abilities happened to be seeing what she couldn't. It was a fact she accepted a long time ago. But now that the cards were laid out on the table, there were more curious matters at hand.
"You tested my carpenter? What, bored of your own so you poke at others?" She held an amused grin. "Or are you scoping out the competition?" She knew the Nova Captains, despite their strength, didn't care too much about the Pirate Lord seat, but the idea that the rest of their crew might have was a funny thought. Teasing aside, Runali leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "Pardon me for not knowing the scale of Caleb's haki to measure out the scale of Luro's but I do feel like I'm missing another piece here. Like, why care so much to come to me? Or even experiment on my carpenter?" In the back of her mind, there were a few reasons she could guess but most came out to be the same result at the end. Luro was strong, but he was also dangerous. Those two wouldn't be the first to enlighten Runali and definitely wouldn't be the last so long as Luro and that Imposter were alive.
Seliria arched a brow at the Captain, the irritation leaving her face for a moment replaced with light confusion.
"When did you lot become competition?" she questioned before her face returned to normal. "Last time I checked you're in the same spot you were last we met."
Caleb raised a hand as well to add in.
"I could never get bored of mess-speaking with Seliria. I can avoid sufficient boredom."
"We're going to have words about what you almost just said, but-"
Seliria cut herself off before looking back at Runali.
"To answer one of your questions we did it because no one else was doing anything about it," Seliria said closing her eyes. "All that potential going nowhere is a waste, so we did something about it since no one else was going to."
"Mainly because Luro asked us too," Caleb added.
Seliria sighed at this and glanced at Caleb, the man seemed to pick up on the woman's unspoken words and brought a finger to his head.
"Ah right that moment. Should I provide false information now?"
"Nah it's already out there, doubt he cares she knows anyway," Seliria said waving a hand. "It's not a matter of care per say on my end. Luro is one of your own, trying to be a better person, as his Captain you should support that, not just for himself but the betterment of the crew, but if he doesn't know what to do he needs help. Since you'd frown at us taking him away for months on end I'm telling you."
Caleb offered a nod at this.
"We experimented on him to confirm that he actually possessed Observation after he approached us for aid some time ago," Caleb said before setting a map of the Circle on the table. "Our results were….better than expected. We fully confirmed its strength recently."
Seliria circled one of the large islands before tapping it, figuring it was familiar to Runali since it was where the crew fought Yuli and Maka.
"I'm not going to give you a recap of Observation as I already did, though I'm concerned as I'm sure I mentioned what Caleb could do in said lesson," Seliria added at the end. "To summarize, Luro's Observation can stretch out-"
She cut herself off and tapped the island again.
"At the very least far enough to cover this entire island."
The woman disliked having to be the one to tell them but letting this sit wasn't going to work out well for anyone, that being said she had her own feelings on the matter.
"If you don't care or aren't inclined then you can let the redhead never figure it out, the way he's going he'll never be able to use it willingly, he doesn't even know he has it after all even with the knowledge of it. He's your crew do what you want there. I'm just giving you the info what you choose to do with it is on you. That's why you're here, I've fulfilled my end of the bargain."
"If you are inclined to aid the Luro who came to us when he was alone, then we'll provide you what information we can."
"Otherwise I have things to do," Seliria said folding the map back up.
"I'm quite free but will be pulled along against my will."
Runali opened her mouth to comment about the two's odd relationship, but closed it almost immediately. There was a familiar stubborn feeling that rose rather instinctively and it made her grin falter. Fortunately, to her at least, she caught onto it before she could say anything and instead leaned forward shifting her attention on the map. "Of course I support him, it'd be ridiculous to think otherwise." She began to tap on the table, mostly in thought, recounting the late night conversations she had with Luro about him wanting to be stronger to keep up with the crew. If he needed help… he could have just asked. But she could have also offered- though it probably would have been difficult to ask for help if he didn't know exactly what he needed help with. Or, maybe she just couldn't give the help that Caleb's oddball brain and Seliria's… lively personality could. Runali had to accept she didn't have the answers to everything. Unfortunately, there was a ghostly cat that she knew would be jeering with an 'I told you so' but that was a thought for later.
Before they could comment on her prolonged silence, Runali held up a finger to make them wait. It followed with her picking up the mug and downing the contents until it was empty. "Alright, shoot." She set it down and nodded to the both of them. "I'm not one to back from a challenge, plus it'd be fun t'see what he can do." Runali twirled the empty mug as she spoke. "Can't pass up the opportunity since you're being so nice after all. And no worries, I've long since brushed up on that lesson. Well, all three of them really."
Seliria didn't seem pleased at being told to wait but merely picked up her own mug, Caleb's presence seemed to calm the woman, or at the very least having someone around that she was 'allowed' to punch freely kept her calmer than usual. She merely took a drink from her mug as she waited for the Captain to speak her peace, hearing her response the woman sighed and stood up. Caleb lightly tapped on her side and grabbing the Captain's mug shoved his now empty one a bit closer to her. The woman's eyes narrowed but unspoken words kept her from walking away and she moved over to the bar.
"Well at least you're trying not to die," the woman said walking away.
"At this point you know how Seliria is Runali, she doesn't doubt you'd help him of course but asking politely to aid him isn't really her speciality, " Caleb said as the woman refilled their mugs. "While Luro was away from you Seliria ended up helping him from some trouble. I don't know what conversation they had, she chooses not to share when that happened but apparently it led to her wanting to help him. She came to me right afterwards."
Caleb glanced back at the woman who was grumbling nearby.
"It must have been something. Luro isn't the type to keep things from you...well from anyone considering his very detailed descriptions but especially you. I'm sure he forgot as he does."
Seliria returned and sat back down pushing the mugs towards their respective owners.
"Also for clarification this is not done out of kindness, Caleb perhaps but I'm here due to some annoying obligation."
Making sure the intent was clear she continued.
"The main issue currently is Luro not recognizing his Observation Haki. According to what we know-"
Seliria cut off and looked over at Caleb who opened his notebook and continued.
"From Zilia's observations and our own Luro has always relied on his strangely animalistic impulses. His instincts and intuition are surprisingly polished, probably from almost dying numerous times and his constant source of trouble. Which is commendable."
Seliria narrowed her eyes at Caleb who turned a page in his book.
"Observation Haki however is not a normal sense. It acts independently of the other senses, that's what makes it especially powerful and hard to trick. Luro doesn't realize this and has attributed it to his normal instincts."
"I'll save you Caleb's log explanation that I had to listen to," Seliria said raising a hand. "About the state of Observation, why he does it and all that. Basically put…"
Seliria trailed off and picked up two mugs, grabbing Caleb's and her own, both half full.
"Luro has been in two states," she said placing the mugs down in front of them.
"The Imposter and then Luro," she said before tapping the left and right mug.
"While he was Imposter Luro was locked in himself, he had no true focus, his potential was dormant. When he retook control and responsibility for himself however…"
Seliria trailed off pouring Caleb's mug into her own causing the man to look fully over at her.
"The potential returned. I'm sure he's mentioned his head being clearer."
Seliria shoved Caleb's mug back over to him.
"I don't know when, I don't know who, and I don't even know if it's true or not but there is a chance when he was a lad someone trained Luro to use Observation and didn't tell him," Seliria said.
"Focus is needed to use Observation," Caleb added.
"Outside of Stardusk his attention span is basically a fish's half the time."
"Thus he uses it only in precise increments."
"All the time's Luro has come back alive hasn't just been luck. Zilia herself said she was surprised how close some wounds were to vital organs but missed them by a hair."
"In some moments his Observation saved him, though he is unaware of it."
"So when he comes back with daggers poking out of him, somehow still alive because 'every' single one missed vital organs. It's because he accidentally used his Observation Haki."
"Mixed with his own instincts which is all he had beforehand."
Caleb pushed a small book closer to Runali.
"This contains a lot of the information we found, share it with Luro. Let him know he has it and there are ways to train it written in there. We would have given it earlier but had to figure out his range," Caleb said pulling his hand back. "No sense providing ineffective lessons."
"Since you've probably already forgotten half of what we explained that's in there too," Seliria said. "We informed you openly so passing it on is up to you, out of our hands now."
Seliria said this putting her hands up slightly before continuing.
"I'll say this as nice as I can. You know this yourself Runali but you all have 'barely' scraped through on some occasions and that's fine, doesn't matter how you do it. If you're standing at the end that's a victory...but Luro Makachi has no way to protect himself. He doesn't have Armament, he doesn't have magic, no Power of Destruction. He has nothing. He's a durable one but eventually he'll fall, we all do, especially because he doesn't have any precautions minus those gloves of his which rely on Armament, the thing he can't harness. So even those aren't going to save him forever."
Seliria tapped the table at this with her finger.
"Observation is all he has. Until he gains something else he needs to harness that so he can survive. No one wants to see a fellow pirate die. His excitement and loudness make me want to beat the snot out of him."
"Again."
"Again," Seliria said. "....but he struggles with all he has which isn't a lot, and I commend him for that. You all are Worst Gen now, personally I don't give a damn about spots or what have you. A bullet in the head kills you wherever you are in the world, only difference is you got more bullets flying at you now. Difference between good and great fighters is the ability to sharpen what you already have."
Caleb nodded at this before speaking.
"Each one of you is precious to Luro but you are aware of that already," Caleb said. "He can only harness it in small accidental bursts but most of the time it's been for your protection or to keep his promise made to you all."
"The incident with Yuli being the most recent one," Seliria said.
Caleb grabbed the full mug, downed it ignoring the glare from Seliria and sat it down.
"That is all we needed Runali of Stardusk."
"...well that's not all but we've kept you away long enough, if you got something to say we'll hear it otherwise I'm leaving. If I don't get back soon Robin's going to give me the face."
"Then Alton will laugh because you can't handle the face."
"I can handle the face and I'm a grown woman for goodness sake I can go out on my own."
"...you vanish for months on occasion."
"I send letters."
"That say 'I'm alive' and little else."
"Your point?"
Save for a contemplative look, Runali kept her comments and thoughts to herself as Seliria and Caleb gave her a run down of information. Though, Seliria's comment of her memory made the captain raise a brow. She tempered the need to challenge it and instead pulled the book closer, thumbing through the details while they continued.
"Hm," She started with her gaze still on the book. "Well I'm not gonna be the one to hold him back from what he can do… Wouldn't be fair to him. And… dangerous for me." She was speaking out loud for the most part. "After all, save for… probably Tashigi, he's probably a good majority of the reason I haven't been shot." Runali chuckled to herself and flipped through the book's pages. "Yeah, get him to focus. That's easy. Getting him to separate instinct from haki?" Runali gave a small shrug as she closed the book. "Nothing's impossible. But also thank you by the way." She waved the book in her hand. "For this. And for… doing your obligatory duty." It was hard to say without teasing. Maybe one day she'd accept that she was doing things out of kindness… or when she did, she'd melt. Either way, Runali was curious to see the result. She left the gratitude there, figuring said Nova chef would blanch at any more. "Don't worry though, I won't let your testing go to waste," She placed the book in her inside coat pocket. "Especially since you both went through all that effort- willingly even." She stood to her feet, finishing off the rest of the contents in the mug. "Plus, makes for new training that may or may not be him throwing the elements at me and Jack. Time to shake things up." While pleased with that new revelation, she gave a polite but mock nod towards the two.
"Caleb of the Novas. Sel also of the Novas. This has been an informative and… eye-opening- hah- chat. It's in captain-ly hands now and I'll make sure to take extra care of what you figured out." There was a short pause and Runali tapped her cheek. "Or… end up doing things completely different and disregarding the given stuff… Whichever works best. Either way, Luro'll be even more of a force to be reckoned with soon enough!"
Red flashed in Luro's vision and a flash of blue met it, the energy passed through and a new rip formed in his shirt, a minor cut hitting flesh. A heavy sigh escaped from Zilia as the red glow left her outstretched hand and she lowered it. Her gaze rested on Luro who stood in front of her, parts of his shirt ripped in random places, courtesy of her own devil fruit.
Luro messed with his glove mumbling to himself as she made further adjustments, for what felt like the hundredth time.
Luro had asked her for a strange favor, he wanted her to attack him with her Devil Fruit.
Thus leading to the present circumstance of Luro with multiple minor cuts on him, and Zilia having been the one who inflicted them.
This somehow all started with Luro going on about 'power stuff', she wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that and as always his explanation didn't help. However Luro somehow managed to get out some kind of comparison she actually understood. Luro could apparently see 'vibrations' in the air, or rather his Observation Haki allowed him to sense it. Apparently he could 'tune' the glove to those vibrations, akin to how they would tune the communication device to a certain frequency. Apparently he had done this by accident but he was trying to do it purposefully, the theory was that by doing this, he would be able to 'capture' the energy itself and use it.
Generally Zilia wouldn't get involved with the matter but Luro generally didn't try to protect himself all that often, when he brought up that this would not only protect the crew but himself she found herself unable to ignore it.
The Generator could also be placed in the ship if it worked, helping to mitigate damage done to the ship and ultimately the crew themselves, after weighing all of this with the extreme rarity of Luro actually looking after himself.
"One more time Z," Luro said raising his glove.
Zilia sighed and held her hand out, even though she was helping Luro she still kept her power at a minimum, as low as possible for the experiment.
"Knife."
Zilia spoke the words and the red energy shot out, Luro's blew met it but he energy passed through it cutting another part of his arm, causing Zilia's eyes to narrow.
Even weakened it still cut Luro, he was human and didn't possess Armament, for reasons beyond her understanding he had to face her like this as well, something about an 'acknowledgement of danger'.
"Again Z."
Zilia stared at Luro and hand still raised spoke the same word, the red energy shot out and once again cut Luro, this caused Zilia to sigh and lower her arm. This had gone on long enough, she wasn't going to let Luro get hurt anymore over a theory.
"Luro let's-"
"Again Z."
"No we need-"
"Please Z."
Zilia stared at Luro his hand outstretched, red had stained most of his white outfit, and his hand trembled slightly causing him to grip it with his wrist, his gaze met her own and she could see something behind his gaze, something desperate. Luro was grasping for something within his reach, his fingers brushing against it but never truly taking hold. She knew that look, it was one he had on his face numerous times before.
"I'm close Z...I can feel it. Again."
Zilia looked down at her hand and back at Luro, with a small shake of her head, more at herself then the redhead she raised her hand again.
"Give me something stronger this time."
"Wha-you're not handling the little things. Using something bigger-"
"I feel like I got it Z. Trust me."
Zilia hand opened and closed and she lamented at her softness towards the crew.
"If you fail this we're stopping. Understand."
"Okay," Luro said nodding. "Once more please Z."
With a sigh Zilia spoke the words.
"Sword."
The red energy gathered and shot out, she purposefully aimed where it would do the least damage, but Luro took a step over where the attack, if it connected, would be lethal. Zilia's eyes widened and she extended a hand to shield him but it was too late, an explosion of blue shot up coating the red energy, and Zilia searched in her mind for what answer she would give the Captain.
In the end however her contemplations faded.
The red energy that should have struck Luro hovered in the air directly in front of him, stopping because of Luro's will as the red energy floated over his glove, whirling around it. Zilia's eyes widened and Luro fell onto his rear, a grin adorning his face as she stared at the pulsating energy.
"I did it….I did it!" Luro exclaimed.
Laughter echoed from the redhead as he climbed to his feet and moving his hand controlled the energy, tossing it back and forth from hand to hand.
"How…"
That was all Zilia could muster as she watched her energy being moved back and forth by Luro.
Luro eventually climbed back to his feet and with a twitch of his hand the energy was pulled into the glove and with a grin he opened and closed his hand looking back at Zilia.
"I found the right frequency Z. It does work!"
"I….can't believe it. Possessing another Devil Fruit Users powers...not even other User's can do that."
Zilia reached up and pulled on her bang as Luro hopped around dancing in celebration, it was still hard to believe, if she hadn't witnessed it for herself she'd find it hard to fathom, even witnessing it doubt still plagued her thoughts.
"I found out the problem."
Luro's voice pulled Zilia from her thoughts.
"The energy output was really low so it was hard for me to pinpoint the right frequency. When you made it bigger or well I guess louder, I could figure it out. The whispers became a yell."
Zilia wasn't sure she understood the process entirely but she believed Luro meant because it was bigger it was easier to figure out.
"Can we go again Z! I gotta make sure I can repeat it," Luro said raising his hand once more. "Once is good and all but I need to be able to do it as if it's a habit."
"Ah...yeah sure," Zilia said. "It really is amazing Luro...I'm sorry for doubting you. If you manage to master this it could help immensely, even I should be able to use my power a bit more freely."
Luro lowered his hand at this before giving a shake of his head.
"Hmmm I don't think that'll work Z," Luro said resting his hands on his hips. "Your power is kinda special. While the energy is similar overall because you use different words the vibrations alter. I have what is basically a split second to find the right vibration in that moment. The feel of them were completely different from you whispering to yelling, I'm positive they'd change depending exactly how loud or soft your words are."
Zilia gave a small nod crossing her arms under her chest at Luro's words, what he said made sense. Her power altered depending not only on how she said the word, and what it meant to her but by volume as well, she knew this instinctively but to hear it from someone else was only a reminder that solidified it. Her power was like a constantly changing puzzle, just by her voice intonation altering the flow of energy could be different, that was part of what made it so hard to control.
"However…"
Zilia looked back up at Luro as he spoke and grinned at her raising his hand.
"...I'll find a way for you to speak completely freely Z. This is just one step in that direction too."
Zilia's body tensed for a moment at Luro's words before relaxing, her arms lowering back to her side before she smiled at Luro.
She raised her hand to him allowing red energy to flow around her fingertips.
She reminded herself again that Luro did what he did for all of Stardusk, including her. He was a mess to clean up after, but at the end of the day he did his best for them.
"All right here it comes Luro," Zilia said holding her wrist.
"Ready anytime Z!"
Luro stared at Zilia who was messing with her power a few feet away, ever since the incident at the Circle she's been consistently trying to improve. She still sits nearby while he tinkers with things but now he hears the low hum of her power behind him, it was surprisingly soothing and he got used to it relatively quickly. Zilia however went completely quiet when doing so due to her concentration, so it cut off their conversation.
"Hey Z."
The hum of energy came to a slow stop and though his back was to her, he could feel her gaze on him so he continued as she grabbed another piece nearby.
"You're trying to make your power stronger right?"
"...yes."
"So why aren't you naming your attacks?"
"....excuse me?"
Luro turned around at this and noticed the narrowed eyed expression on Zilia's face, he offered a grin and setting the object to the side, stood up and brushed himself off. Raising his hand he pointed at her.
"Give your attacks names."
"...you mean like Alicia used to do?"
"Alicia stopped doing it...I thought she still did it?" Luro questioned tilting his head slightly.
"I haven't heard her name her attacks in a while...or was I mistaken?"
"You can get used to it and just not think about it. I'm pretty sure she still names them."
The two went silent for a moment contemplating the thought before Zilia shook her head and moved the conversation along.
"Well whether she still does or doesn't-"
"Pretty sure she does."
"Nonetheless….I'm not naming my attacks... I'm still not sure why she did it."
"It'd make your attacks stronger though Z."
Zilia sighed and leaned forward at this seeing Luro was seriously continuing this train of thought, she shut her eyes deciding to play along until he lost interest, which should be relatively soon.
"What makes you think that?"
"Things with names have more power right? With your Devil Fruit I mean so if you name your attacks won't they have the same effect?"
"That-"
Zilia cut herself off as her eyes opened, she stared wide eyed at the floor in silence as she contemplated Luro's words. After a brief silence her eyes narrowed slightly and she leaned forward a little more.
"That's….technically correct...the concept would probably work…"
She questioned why Luro was always particular in times like these, it wasn't a terrible idea. Association worked in that way as she attached names to her power amplifying it, giving names to her 'moves' wasn't that far-fetched of an idea."
"Just try it out Z, no harm in it right?"
"Minus me possibly blowing up the ship."
"I'll fix whatever you break."
Zilia looked up at Luro who offered a bright grin to her, a sigh escaped from her as she gave up, ultimately Luro was trying to help her, not responding in kind would be rude.
The two moved outside and away from the ship, moving into a nearby forest. Zilia didn't like trying new things with her powers on the ship, even if it didn't work she didn't know how it would respond to her attempts so she refused to risk it. Luro came along to watch the process, though Zilia only mentioned he was accompanying her. She didn't offer much of an explanation minus 'going for a walk' not wanting to explain she was going to practice move names.
Once the two were far enough away from the ship and general civilization, they found a small clearing in the forest, Luro sat on the ground nearby and Zilia held her hand out palm up before beginning the process.
"Apple."
She focused and a purple glow formed around her hand before hovering a few inches above her palm, she spoke the words simply and with her normal tone of voice, it wasn't much bigger than an apple, same as its namesake.
She glanced up at Luro who continued to smile and gave a firm nod to her, with a sigh she let the orb fade and focused again, this time speaking exactly the same, but altering the words.
"O Child of the old land, bring forth your will onto me. 'Apple of the Lost Land'."
A flushed filled her cheeks as she actually spoke the words out loud, she started to comment on never doing it again, but stopped as she felt the air around them distort as if it was pulling in on itself, the energy flowed out of her hand and flared outwards knocking Luro onto his back and almost knocking Zilia off her feet.
The Orb that formed was far larger than the previous one, roughly the size of a cannonball, but the power being drawn out of it was considerably greater; she destroyed chunks out of the earth just summoning it, realizing this she she quickly locked the energy in a barrier and released it. The force still threw her and Luro back, knocking them against opposing trees. Dust and dirt flew up everywhere from the release and by time it cleared both were already climbing to their feet. Zilia's eyes widened as she stared at the mini crater in the earth, the effects even after 'sealing' the power away.
There was a small moment where the two just stared at the destroyed area in front of them, Luro was the first to react, laughing as he pumped his fist in the air while Zilia fell onto her rear still staring at the crater. The effect had more than doubled just from saying a line from a book and a bit of visualization.
"Z it worked! It worked! That was great!'
Zilia stood up and walked closer to the hole, staring down into it. Her mouth twitching seeing Luro slide into it without a care, though seeing it was safe she walked down into it herself, bending down to trace her glove over the destroyed earth.
"...I'll have to fill this back in," she said sighing a little.
"That's all ya got to say Z? That was awesome, it was so much bigger than the first one!"
"...it...yes it was Luro."
"So you're going to name your moves now?"
"No."
Luro's brows arched and throwing his arms up he brought them down to focus on the crater, almost a bit too dramatically and Zilia sighed.
"I get what you mean Luro...but…"
"...but?"
Red flushed into Zilia's cheeks as she steepled her fingers together.
"...it's embarrassing."
Luro stared at Zilia in silence, he seemed to be waiting for something but when the doctor remained silent gaze focused on the ground between them Luro scratched the side of his head.
"Isn't that a good thing though. Emotions amplify your power right?"
"Well...yes but...I don't want shame and embarrassment to fuel my power."
"...so anger's fine?"
"You-"
Zilia raised her gaze to Luro but realizing her emotions were flaring immediately cut herself off narrowing her eyes at him, he grinned before resting his hands on his hips.
"You're trying to control your power better right Z? Then you gotta put some of this stuff aside. I don't really get what's embarrassing about yelling out names for your moves but this is far more powerful than your usual stuff, and what if you accidentally make a reference from a book you know...the hundreds of books you know or it just comes to mind. Wouldn't it be better to understand and control it?"
Zilia really questioned why Luro only showed signs of understanding when it came to things like this, it made it really hard to argue especially when he was right. Understanding her power did come first, not only to better help Stardusk but to ensure their safety, everything Luro said was right she couldn't deny that.
"Well...yes that does make sense…" Zilia said. "I agree with you but…"
"...but?"
"...it's really embarrassing Luro."
"That embarrassment gives it power Z, just embrace it."
A heavy sigh escaped from the doctor and she raised her gaze looking around the smaller crater, her eyebrows lowered a bit and she opened and closed her hand still feeling the power pulsating from her fingertips.
"...I will...consider using it more...at the very least I'll learn to control it. Thank you Luro."
"Anytime Z."
She ignored the bright smile on Luro's face and started making her way out of the crater with Luro following behind her, after filling the hole in the two made their way back to the ship. Somehow this day ended up more exhausting than necessary, and her eyes glanced over at the person she could blame for it. Though she couldn't deny this information was handy, if not embarrassing. She decided to find some apple rum and slip it into his stock later on in the day, this deserved more than a simple thank you.
"I have no idea how Alicia did this," Zilia said as the ship came into view.
"I'm pretty sure she still does it...though does her power increase when she names them or not?"
"I...I don't know, it'd be weird to scream out the names if she didn't."
"I mean I've done it once or twice, though I was just mimicking her."
"...was it more powerful?"
"Not really no."
I have divided what exist below into Main and Side categories.
Main tie into the overarching story of Pirate Age, its handy info if you want to know what's happened within the world, this will help in case there are blanks you want filled, it however is not 'mandatory' for understanding the overarching story, it's in-betweens that tie in enough not to be side stories completely.
Sides are akin to the Prophet Diaries, handy info but not anything you need to know for the main story. Read at your own discretion essentially but less than main.
I've also divided them into Pre Bonifaas and Post Bonifaas to help with the timeline.
With that said good luck.
Anything out in the open is just my regular posts, wanted easy clarification for that one which is above
Anyway yeah enjoy.
Main
Pre- Bonifaas
In front of Runali sat Seliria and Caleb, the two Nova's happening to run into each other considering the varying circumstances that brought each closer to Stardusk. Seliria did not look pleased to be near the Nova shipwright and Caleb...well looked like Caleb. He seemed pleased to meet with the Captain at least that's what Seliria said, his face remained the same state it always was in front of her though.
Seliria had called for the Captain's time, making sure to get a fair distance from Stardusk afterwards, she had Caleb ensure they didn't have any extra ears, having him put up one of his inventions, which apparently would make any extra listeners….painfully obvious as she liked to put it as he handed the Captain a pendant to wear.
She seemed to take extra precautions once they were a far enough difference, she didn't say it in so many words but she did mention the 'fate' of her shipwright was something they had to discuss, and it would be better done privately at first, after that she could decide what she wanted to do.
The woman had led them to a tavern once night fell, a few coin slipped to the bartender and the place was emptied, with even the bartender stepping out, once he set a few mugs down for them.
"I know taking you from your precious crew is heartbreaking but we have to talk about Luro Makachi...especially now."
"Don't think I've ever been in a quiet tavern…" Runali was fiddling with the pendant and looking around. "Cool." She commented and took a sip from the mug closest to her. At first it looked as if she didn't hear Seliria but after attention broke from her short inspection she looked back at the two with a raised brow. "Ah, they worry. It's nice, but we'll be fine. Unless something blows up then the first mate and the doctor will be rushing here post haste." She waved her hand, dismissing the thought when she realized it wasn't important.
"What'd he do? Did he break something? Because whatever's broken, there's no proof unless he said it but who's really at fault if you let him get near whatever he broke. Whatever it was, not paying for it." She shook her head, making her decision final. "Not because I can't. Just because I don't want to. Unless… it's a rematch with Alton, then I'll consider it." Halfway through pleading her case, she figured she was nowhere near the point Seliria was trying to make but she figured she'd carry on anyway, just to get her own point across. But it was obvious she was finished when she grabbed the mug again and gestured for the two to continue.
Caleb opened his mouth when Runali touched the pendant but closed it when nothing happened, he started writing in his notebook.
"Touching pendant within Zone does not kill wearer, good to note," Caleb said before glancing at Seliria.
The woman was gripping her glass tightly her eye twitching as the Captain spoke, clearly not pleased the topic had moved away and much less they were the accused all of a sudden. Caleb reached over and removed the now cracked glass from her hand setting it to the side. Seliria clearly liked Runali, she actually showed a bit of restraint there for a second. He didn't speak such words out loud as he was attached to his arms. He offered a small shake of his head at Runali's mention of Alton.
"Not for us to decide, Captains will be Captain's," Caleb said. "I will pass along your desire however."
Seliria shut her eyes composing herself for a moment before looking over at Caleb.
"I vote we go back and let him remain ignorant," the woman said. "I have little patience for this today."
"We came all this way Seliria, and it was your idea to share this knowledge. Let's see it through. We have our reasons after all."
Seliria brought a hand to her face and squeezed the bridge of her nose but didn't move, after a moment her shoulders dropped a bit and she looked back at Runali folding her hands on the table.
"If your Carpenter broke something of mine he wouldn't be walking and I don't care what he breaks of Calebs, our business is something else," the woman said. "There's something about your Carpenter you and your friends have missed."
"Not that it's any fault of yours," Caleb added. "It's not something you really notice, if the person themselves don't even know then no one else is going too."
Caleb said this filling in the blanks Seliria always forgot to.
"We did research of our own and just now were able to confirm it," Caleb said.
Seliria shook her head still not able to believe she was going to say this.
"Luro Makachi has Observation Haki," the woman said. "Very advanced Observation Haki. On par with Caleb's."
"Perhaps better," the man added.
Seliria glanced at Caleb at this before looking back to Runali.
"We have a general idea of its strength from our tests, he without a doubt possesses it."
"Thank you Caleb." Runali murmured into her mug. Her gaze was casted downwards, not having to see the glass to know it was broken. Runali just didn't want Seliria to know she found it amusing, so she stayed quiet and let her speak. There were limits to testing the cook's patience after all. Sometimes.
As the two continued, the conversation felt… familiar, but with new faces. For a moment her attention was on figuring out why there was so much familiarity, only to blink when the words 'observation haki' echoed. "...Hm...so that's what the cat was talking about." Runali muttered to herself. Part of her guessed it was something like that but another part of her didn't care to dig deeper. She trusted Luro and his abilities-- and one of his abilities happened to be seeing what she couldn't. It was a fact she accepted a long time ago. But now that the cards were laid out on the table, there were more curious matters at hand.
"You tested my carpenter? What, bored of your own so you poke at others?" She held an amused grin. "Or are you scoping out the competition?" She knew the Nova Captains, despite their strength, didn't care too much about the Pirate Lord seat, but the idea that the rest of their crew might have was a funny thought. Teasing aside, Runali leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "Pardon me for not knowing the scale of Caleb's haki to measure out the scale of Luro's but I do feel like I'm missing another piece here. Like, why care so much to come to me? Or even experiment on my carpenter?" In the back of her mind, there were a few reasons she could guess but most came out to be the same result at the end. Luro was strong, but he was also dangerous. Those two wouldn't be the first to enlighten Runali and definitely wouldn't be the last so long as Luro and that Imposter were alive.
Seliria arched a brow at the Captain, the irritation leaving her face for a moment replaced with light confusion.
"When did you lot become competition?" she questioned before her face returned to normal. "Last time I checked you're in the same spot you were last we met."
Caleb raised a hand as well to add in.
"I could never get bored of mess-speaking with Seliria. I can avoid sufficient boredom."
"We're going to have words about what you almost just said, but-"
Seliria cut herself off before looking back at Runali.
"To answer one of your questions we did it because no one else was doing anything about it," Seliria said closing her eyes. "All that potential going nowhere is a waste, so we did something about it since no one else was going to."
"Mainly because Luro asked us too," Caleb added.
Seliria sighed at this and glanced at Caleb, the man seemed to pick up on the woman's unspoken words and brought a finger to his head.
"Ah right that moment. Should I provide false information now?"
"Nah it's already out there, doubt he cares she knows anyway," Seliria said waving a hand. "It's not a matter of care per say on my end. Luro is one of your own, trying to be a better person, as his Captain you should support that, not just for himself but the betterment of the crew, but if he doesn't know what to do he needs help. Since you'd frown at us taking him away for months on end I'm telling you."
Caleb offered a nod at this.
"We experimented on him to confirm that he actually possessed Observation after he approached us for aid some time ago," Caleb said before setting a map of the Circle on the table. "Our results were….better than expected. We fully confirmed its strength recently."
Seliria circled one of the large islands before tapping it, figuring it was familiar to Runali since it was where the crew fought Yuli and Maka.
"I'm not going to give you a recap of Observation as I already did, though I'm concerned as I'm sure I mentioned what Caleb could do in said lesson," Seliria added at the end. "To summarize, Luro's Observation can stretch out-"
She cut herself off and tapped the island again.
"At the very least far enough to cover this entire island."
The woman disliked having to be the one to tell them but letting this sit wasn't going to work out well for anyone, that being said she had her own feelings on the matter.
"If you don't care or aren't inclined then you can let the redhead never figure it out, the way he's going he'll never be able to use it willingly, he doesn't even know he has it after all even with the knowledge of it. He's your crew do what you want there. I'm just giving you the info what you choose to do with it is on you. That's why you're here, I've fulfilled my end of the bargain."
"If you are inclined to aid the Luro who came to us when he was alone, then we'll provide you what information we can."
"Otherwise I have things to do," Seliria said folding the map back up.
"I'm quite free but will be pulled along against my will."
Runali opened her mouth to comment about the two's odd relationship, but closed it almost immediately. There was a familiar stubborn feeling that rose rather instinctively and it made her grin falter. Fortunately, to her at least, she caught onto it before she could say anything and instead leaned forward shifting her attention on the map. "Of course I support him, it'd be ridiculous to think otherwise." She began to tap on the table, mostly in thought, recounting the late night conversations she had with Luro about him wanting to be stronger to keep up with the crew. If he needed help… he could have just asked. But she could have also offered- though it probably would have been difficult to ask for help if he didn't know exactly what he needed help with. Or, maybe she just couldn't give the help that Caleb's oddball brain and Seliria's… lively personality could. Runali had to accept she didn't have the answers to everything. Unfortunately, there was a ghostly cat that she knew would be jeering with an 'I told you so' but that was a thought for later.
Before they could comment on her prolonged silence, Runali held up a finger to make them wait. It followed with her picking up the mug and downing the contents until it was empty. "Alright, shoot." She set it down and nodded to the both of them. "I'm not one to back from a challenge, plus it'd be fun t'see what he can do." Runali twirled the empty mug as she spoke. "Can't pass up the opportunity since you're being so nice after all. And no worries, I've long since brushed up on that lesson. Well, all three of them really."
Seliria didn't seem pleased at being told to wait but merely picked up her own mug, Caleb's presence seemed to calm the woman, or at the very least having someone around that she was 'allowed' to punch freely kept her calmer than usual. She merely took a drink from her mug as she waited for the Captain to speak her peace, hearing her response the woman sighed and stood up. Caleb lightly tapped on her side and grabbing the Captain's mug shoved his now empty one a bit closer to her. The woman's eyes narrowed but unspoken words kept her from walking away and she moved over to the bar.
"Well at least you're trying not to die," the woman said walking away.
"At this point you know how Seliria is Runali, she doesn't doubt you'd help him of course but asking politely to aid him isn't really her speciality, " Caleb said as the woman refilled their mugs. "While Luro was away from you Seliria ended up helping him from some trouble. I don't know what conversation they had, she chooses not to share when that happened but apparently it led to her wanting to help him. She came to me right afterwards."
Caleb glanced back at the woman who was grumbling nearby.
"It must have been something. Luro isn't the type to keep things from you...well from anyone considering his very detailed descriptions but especially you. I'm sure he forgot as he does."
Seliria returned and sat back down pushing the mugs towards their respective owners.
"Also for clarification this is not done out of kindness, Caleb perhaps but I'm here due to some annoying obligation."
Making sure the intent was clear she continued.
"The main issue currently is Luro not recognizing his Observation Haki. According to what we know-"
Seliria cut off and looked over at Caleb who opened his notebook and continued.
"From Zilia's observations and our own Luro has always relied on his strangely animalistic impulses. His instincts and intuition are surprisingly polished, probably from almost dying numerous times and his constant source of trouble. Which is commendable."
Seliria narrowed her eyes at Caleb who turned a page in his book.
"Observation Haki however is not a normal sense. It acts independently of the other senses, that's what makes it especially powerful and hard to trick. Luro doesn't realize this and has attributed it to his normal instincts."
"I'll save you Caleb's log explanation that I had to listen to," Seliria said raising a hand. "About the state of Observation, why he does it and all that. Basically put…"
Seliria trailed off and picked up two mugs, grabbing Caleb's and her own, both half full.
"Luro has been in two states," she said placing the mugs down in front of them.
"The Imposter and then Luro," she said before tapping the left and right mug.
"While he was Imposter Luro was locked in himself, he had no true focus, his potential was dormant. When he retook control and responsibility for himself however…"
Seliria trailed off pouring Caleb's mug into her own causing the man to look fully over at her.
"The potential returned. I'm sure he's mentioned his head being clearer."
Seliria shoved Caleb's mug back over to him.
"I don't know when, I don't know who, and I don't even know if it's true or not but there is a chance when he was a lad someone trained Luro to use Observation and didn't tell him," Seliria said.
"Focus is needed to use Observation," Caleb added.
"Outside of Stardusk his attention span is basically a fish's half the time."
"Thus he uses it only in precise increments."
"All the time's Luro has come back alive hasn't just been luck. Zilia herself said she was surprised how close some wounds were to vital organs but missed them by a hair."
"In some moments his Observation saved him, though he is unaware of it."
"So when he comes back with daggers poking out of him, somehow still alive because 'every' single one missed vital organs. It's because he accidentally used his Observation Haki."
"Mixed with his own instincts which is all he had beforehand."
Caleb pushed a small book closer to Runali.
"This contains a lot of the information we found, share it with Luro. Let him know he has it and there are ways to train it written in there. We would have given it earlier but had to figure out his range," Caleb said pulling his hand back. "No sense providing ineffective lessons."
"Since you've probably already forgotten half of what we explained that's in there too," Seliria said. "We informed you openly so passing it on is up to you, out of our hands now."
Seliria said this putting her hands up slightly before continuing.
"I'll say this as nice as I can. You know this yourself Runali but you all have 'barely' scraped through on some occasions and that's fine, doesn't matter how you do it. If you're standing at the end that's a victory...but Luro Makachi has no way to protect himself. He doesn't have Armament, he doesn't have magic, no Power of Destruction. He has nothing. He's a durable one but eventually he'll fall, we all do, especially because he doesn't have any precautions minus those gloves of his which rely on Armament, the thing he can't harness. So even those aren't going to save him forever."
Seliria tapped the table at this with her finger.
"Observation is all he has. Until he gains something else he needs to harness that so he can survive. No one wants to see a fellow pirate die. His excitement and loudness make me want to beat the snot out of him."
"Again."
"Again," Seliria said. "....but he struggles with all he has which isn't a lot, and I commend him for that. You all are Worst Gen now, personally I don't give a damn about spots or what have you. A bullet in the head kills you wherever you are in the world, only difference is you got more bullets flying at you now. Difference between good and great fighters is the ability to sharpen what you already have."
Caleb nodded at this before speaking.
"Each one of you is precious to Luro but you are aware of that already," Caleb said. "He can only harness it in small accidental bursts but most of the time it's been for your protection or to keep his promise made to you all."
"The incident with Yuli being the most recent one," Seliria said.
Caleb grabbed the full mug, downed it ignoring the glare from Seliria and sat it down.
"That is all we needed Runali of Stardusk."
"...well that's not all but we've kept you away long enough, if you got something to say we'll hear it otherwise I'm leaving. If I don't get back soon Robin's going to give me the face."
"Then Alton will laugh because you can't handle the face."
"I can handle the face and I'm a grown woman for goodness sake I can go out on my own."
"...you vanish for months on occasion."
"I send letters."
"That say 'I'm alive' and little else."
"Your point?"
Save for a contemplative look, Runali kept her comments and thoughts to herself as Seliria and Caleb gave her a run down of information. Though, Seliria's comment of her memory made the captain raise a brow. She tempered the need to challenge it and instead pulled the book closer, thumbing through the details while they continued.
"Hm," She started with her gaze still on the book. "Well I'm not gonna be the one to hold him back from what he can do… Wouldn't be fair to him. And… dangerous for me." She was speaking out loud for the most part. "After all, save for… probably Tashigi, he's probably a good majority of the reason I haven't been shot." Runali chuckled to herself and flipped through the book's pages. "Yeah, get him to focus. That's easy. Getting him to separate instinct from haki?" Runali gave a small shrug as she closed the book. "Nothing's impossible. But also thank you by the way." She waved the book in her hand. "For this. And for… doing your obligatory duty." It was hard to say without teasing. Maybe one day she'd accept that she was doing things out of kindness… or when she did, she'd melt. Either way, Runali was curious to see the result. She left the gratitude there, figuring said Nova chef would blanch at any more. "Don't worry though, I won't let your testing go to waste," She placed the book in her inside coat pocket. "Especially since you both went through all that effort- willingly even." She stood to her feet, finishing off the rest of the contents in the mug. "Plus, makes for new training that may or may not be him throwing the elements at me and Jack. Time to shake things up." While pleased with that new revelation, she gave a polite but mock nod towards the two.
"Caleb of the Novas. Sel also of the Novas. This has been an informative and… eye-opening- hah- chat. It's in captain-ly hands now and I'll make sure to take extra care of what you figured out." There was a short pause and Runali tapped her cheek. "Or… end up doing things completely different and disregarding the given stuff… Whichever works best. Either way, Luro'll be even more of a force to be reckoned with soon enough!"
Red flashed in Luro's vision and a flash of blue met it, the energy passed through and a new rip formed in his shirt, a minor cut hitting flesh. A heavy sigh escaped from Zilia as the red glow left her outstretched hand and she lowered it. Her gaze rested on Luro who stood in front of her, parts of his shirt ripped in random places, courtesy of her own devil fruit.
Luro messed with his glove mumbling to himself as she made further adjustments, for what felt like the hundredth time.
Luro had asked her for a strange favor, he wanted her to attack him with her Devil Fruit.
Thus leading to the present circumstance of Luro with multiple minor cuts on him, and Zilia having been the one who inflicted them.
This somehow all started with Luro going on about 'power stuff', she wasn't entirely sure what he meant by that and as always his explanation didn't help. However Luro somehow managed to get out some kind of comparison she actually understood. Luro could apparently see 'vibrations' in the air, or rather his Observation Haki allowed him to sense it. Apparently he could 'tune' the glove to those vibrations, akin to how they would tune the communication device to a certain frequency. Apparently he had done this by accident but he was trying to do it purposefully, the theory was that by doing this, he would be able to 'capture' the energy itself and use it.
Generally Zilia wouldn't get involved with the matter but Luro generally didn't try to protect himself all that often, when he brought up that this would not only protect the crew but himself she found herself unable to ignore it.
The Generator could also be placed in the ship if it worked, helping to mitigate damage done to the ship and ultimately the crew themselves, after weighing all of this with the extreme rarity of Luro actually looking after himself.
"One more time Z," Luro said raising his glove.
Zilia sighed and held her hand out, even though she was helping Luro she still kept her power at a minimum, as low as possible for the experiment.
"Knife."
Zilia spoke the words and the red energy shot out, Luro's blew met it but he energy passed through it cutting another part of his arm, causing Zilia's eyes to narrow.
Even weakened it still cut Luro, he was human and didn't possess Armament, for reasons beyond her understanding he had to face her like this as well, something about an 'acknowledgement of danger'.
"Again Z."
Zilia stared at Luro and hand still raised spoke the same word, the red energy shot out and once again cut Luro, this caused Zilia to sigh and lower her arm. This had gone on long enough, she wasn't going to let Luro get hurt anymore over a theory.
"Luro let's-"
"Again Z."
"No we need-"
"Please Z."
Zilia stared at Luro his hand outstretched, red had stained most of his white outfit, and his hand trembled slightly causing him to grip it with his wrist, his gaze met her own and she could see something behind his gaze, something desperate. Luro was grasping for something within his reach, his fingers brushing against it but never truly taking hold. She knew that look, it was one he had on his face numerous times before.
"I'm close Z...I can feel it. Again."
Zilia looked down at her hand and back at Luro, with a small shake of her head, more at herself then the redhead she raised her hand again.
"Give me something stronger this time."
"Wha-you're not handling the little things. Using something bigger-"
"I feel like I got it Z. Trust me."
Zilia hand opened and closed and she lamented at her softness towards the crew.
"If you fail this we're stopping. Understand."
"Okay," Luro said nodding. "Once more please Z."
With a sigh Zilia spoke the words.
"Sword."
The red energy gathered and shot out, she purposefully aimed where it would do the least damage, but Luro took a step over where the attack, if it connected, would be lethal. Zilia's eyes widened and she extended a hand to shield him but it was too late, an explosion of blue shot up coating the red energy, and Zilia searched in her mind for what answer she would give the Captain.
In the end however her contemplations faded.
The red energy that should have struck Luro hovered in the air directly in front of him, stopping because of Luro's will as the red energy floated over his glove, whirling around it. Zilia's eyes widened and Luro fell onto his rear, a grin adorning his face as she stared at the pulsating energy.
"I did it….I did it!" Luro exclaimed.
Laughter echoed from the redhead as he climbed to his feet and moving his hand controlled the energy, tossing it back and forth from hand to hand.
"How…"
That was all Zilia could muster as she watched her energy being moved back and forth by Luro.
Luro eventually climbed back to his feet and with a twitch of his hand the energy was pulled into the glove and with a grin he opened and closed his hand looking back at Zilia.
"I found the right frequency Z. It does work!"
"I….can't believe it. Possessing another Devil Fruit Users powers...not even other User's can do that."
Zilia reached up and pulled on her bang as Luro hopped around dancing in celebration, it was still hard to believe, if she hadn't witnessed it for herself she'd find it hard to fathom, even witnessing it doubt still plagued her thoughts.
"I found out the problem."
Luro's voice pulled Zilia from her thoughts.
"The energy output was really low so it was hard for me to pinpoint the right frequency. When you made it bigger or well I guess louder, I could figure it out. The whispers became a yell."
Zilia wasn't sure she understood the process entirely but she believed Luro meant because it was bigger it was easier to figure out.
"Can we go again Z! I gotta make sure I can repeat it," Luro said raising his hand once more. "Once is good and all but I need to be able to do it as if it's a habit."
"Ah...yeah sure," Zilia said. "It really is amazing Luro...I'm sorry for doubting you. If you manage to master this it could help immensely, even I should be able to use my power a bit more freely."
Luro lowered his hand at this before giving a shake of his head.
"Hmmm I don't think that'll work Z," Luro said resting his hands on his hips. "Your power is kinda special. While the energy is similar overall because you use different words the vibrations alter. I have what is basically a split second to find the right vibration in that moment. The feel of them were completely different from you whispering to yelling, I'm positive they'd change depending exactly how loud or soft your words are."
Zilia gave a small nod crossing her arms under her chest at Luro's words, what he said made sense. Her power altered depending not only on how she said the word, and what it meant to her but by volume as well, she knew this instinctively but to hear it from someone else was only a reminder that solidified it. Her power was like a constantly changing puzzle, just by her voice intonation altering the flow of energy could be different, that was part of what made it so hard to control.
"However…"
Zilia looked back up at Luro as he spoke and grinned at her raising his hand.
"...I'll find a way for you to speak completely freely Z. This is just one step in that direction too."
Zilia's body tensed for a moment at Luro's words before relaxing, her arms lowering back to her side before she smiled at Luro.
She raised her hand to him allowing red energy to flow around her fingertips.
She reminded herself again that Luro did what he did for all of Stardusk, including her. He was a mess to clean up after, but at the end of the day he did his best for them.
"All right here it comes Luro," Zilia said holding her wrist.
"Ready anytime Z!"
Luro stared at Zilia who was messing with her power a few feet away, ever since the incident at the Circle she's been consistently trying to improve. She still sits nearby while he tinkers with things but now he hears the low hum of her power behind him, it was surprisingly soothing and he got used to it relatively quickly. Zilia however went completely quiet when doing so due to her concentration, so it cut off their conversation.
"Hey Z."
The hum of energy came to a slow stop and though his back was to her, he could feel her gaze on him so he continued as she grabbed another piece nearby.
"You're trying to make your power stronger right?"
"...yes."
"So why aren't you naming your attacks?"
"....excuse me?"
Luro turned around at this and noticed the narrowed eyed expression on Zilia's face, he offered a grin and setting the object to the side, stood up and brushed himself off. Raising his hand he pointed at her.
"Give your attacks names."
"...you mean like Alicia used to do?"
"Alicia stopped doing it...I thought she still did it?" Luro questioned tilting his head slightly.
"I haven't heard her name her attacks in a while...or was I mistaken?"
"You can get used to it and just not think about it. I'm pretty sure she still names them."
The two went silent for a moment contemplating the thought before Zilia shook her head and moved the conversation along.
"Well whether she still does or doesn't-"
"Pretty sure she does."
"Nonetheless….I'm not naming my attacks... I'm still not sure why she did it."
"It'd make your attacks stronger though Z."
Zilia sighed and leaned forward at this seeing Luro was seriously continuing this train of thought, she shut her eyes deciding to play along until he lost interest, which should be relatively soon.
"What makes you think that?"
"Things with names have more power right? With your Devil Fruit I mean so if you name your attacks won't they have the same effect?"
"That-"
Zilia cut herself off as her eyes opened, she stared wide eyed at the floor in silence as she contemplated Luro's words. After a brief silence her eyes narrowed slightly and she leaned forward a little more.
"That's….technically correct...the concept would probably work…"
She questioned why Luro was always particular in times like these, it wasn't a terrible idea. Association worked in that way as she attached names to her power amplifying it, giving names to her 'moves' wasn't that far-fetched of an idea."
"Just try it out Z, no harm in it right?"
"Minus me possibly blowing up the ship."
"I'll fix whatever you break."
Zilia looked up at Luro who offered a bright grin to her, a sigh escaped from her as she gave up, ultimately Luro was trying to help her, not responding in kind would be rude.
The two moved outside and away from the ship, moving into a nearby forest. Zilia didn't like trying new things with her powers on the ship, even if it didn't work she didn't know how it would respond to her attempts so she refused to risk it. Luro came along to watch the process, though Zilia only mentioned he was accompanying her. She didn't offer much of an explanation minus 'going for a walk' not wanting to explain she was going to practice move names.
Once the two were far enough away from the ship and general civilization, they found a small clearing in the forest, Luro sat on the ground nearby and Zilia held her hand out palm up before beginning the process.
"Apple."
She focused and a purple glow formed around her hand before hovering a few inches above her palm, she spoke the words simply and with her normal tone of voice, it wasn't much bigger than an apple, same as its namesake.
She glanced up at Luro who continued to smile and gave a firm nod to her, with a sigh she let the orb fade and focused again, this time speaking exactly the same, but altering the words.
"O Child of the old land, bring forth your will onto me. 'Apple of the Lost Land'."
A flushed filled her cheeks as she actually spoke the words out loud, she started to comment on never doing it again, but stopped as she felt the air around them distort as if it was pulling in on itself, the energy flowed out of her hand and flared outwards knocking Luro onto his back and almost knocking Zilia off her feet.
The Orb that formed was far larger than the previous one, roughly the size of a cannonball, but the power being drawn out of it was considerably greater; she destroyed chunks out of the earth just summoning it, realizing this she she quickly locked the energy in a barrier and released it. The force still threw her and Luro back, knocking them against opposing trees. Dust and dirt flew up everywhere from the release and by time it cleared both were already climbing to their feet. Zilia's eyes widened as she stared at the mini crater in the earth, the effects even after 'sealing' the power away.
There was a small moment where the two just stared at the destroyed area in front of them, Luro was the first to react, laughing as he pumped his fist in the air while Zilia fell onto her rear still staring at the crater. The effect had more than doubled just from saying a line from a book and a bit of visualization.
"Z it worked! It worked! That was great!'
Zilia stood up and walked closer to the hole, staring down into it. Her mouth twitching seeing Luro slide into it without a care, though seeing it was safe she walked down into it herself, bending down to trace her glove over the destroyed earth.
"...I'll have to fill this back in," she said sighing a little.
"That's all ya got to say Z? That was awesome, it was so much bigger than the first one!"
"...it...yes it was Luro."
"So you're going to name your moves now?"
"No."
Luro's brows arched and throwing his arms up he brought them down to focus on the crater, almost a bit too dramatically and Zilia sighed.
"I get what you mean Luro...but…"
"...but?"
Red flushed into Zilia's cheeks as she steepled her fingers together.
"...it's embarrassing."
Luro stared at Zilia in silence, he seemed to be waiting for something but when the doctor remained silent gaze focused on the ground between them Luro scratched the side of his head.
"Isn't that a good thing though. Emotions amplify your power right?"
"Well...yes but...I don't want shame and embarrassment to fuel my power."
"...so anger's fine?"
"You-"
Zilia raised her gaze to Luro but realizing her emotions were flaring immediately cut herself off narrowing her eyes at him, he grinned before resting his hands on his hips.
"You're trying to control your power better right Z? Then you gotta put some of this stuff aside. I don't really get what's embarrassing about yelling out names for your moves but this is far more powerful than your usual stuff, and what if you accidentally make a reference from a book you know...the hundreds of books you know or it just comes to mind. Wouldn't it be better to understand and control it?"
Zilia really questioned why Luro only showed signs of understanding when it came to things like this, it made it really hard to argue especially when he was right. Understanding her power did come first, not only to better help Stardusk but to ensure their safety, everything Luro said was right she couldn't deny that.
"Well...yes that does make sense…" Zilia said. "I agree with you but…"
"...but?"
"...it's really embarrassing Luro."
"That embarrassment gives it power Z, just embrace it."
A heavy sigh escaped from the doctor and she raised her gaze looking around the smaller crater, her eyebrows lowered a bit and she opened and closed her hand still feeling the power pulsating from her fingertips.
"...I will...consider using it more...at the very least I'll learn to control it. Thank you Luro."
"Anytime Z."
She ignored the bright smile on Luro's face and started making her way out of the crater with Luro following behind her, after filling the hole in the two made their way back to the ship. Somehow this day ended up more exhausting than necessary, and her eyes glanced over at the person she could blame for it. Though she couldn't deny this information was handy, if not embarrassing. She decided to find some apple rum and slip it into his stock later on in the day, this deserved more than a simple thank you.
"I have no idea how Alicia did this," Zilia said as the ship came into view.
"I'm pretty sure she still does it...though does her power increase when she names them or not?"
"I...I don't know, it'd be weird to scream out the names if she didn't."
"I mean I've done it once or twice, though I was just mimicking her."
"...was it more powerful?"
"Not really no."