Chapter 1: Seven Silver Mills Harbor
The fog machines located inside of the bulbous bow of an airship were billowing thickly to shroud the bottom of the barge. Sunlight poured in as velvet curtains were being opened by the coordinated pulling of crystal tilt wands of two gentlemen. The natural light of the morning sun illuminated two large maps of trade routes, loading hubs, resupply locations, and her precious harbor plotted out along the seas. Her mission was fairly simple, but the economic downfall of any lost cargo from the trading fleets required more complex planning this year. The storm ship, MarbleStar, had a mere fifteen days to complete this mission from Quistador Ingagoh. It was going to be one of the largest transports of pure silver and red spices at first sail. Pirates were going to be a major problem, and the marines would be overwhelmed if they were ambushed by more than one pirate captain who might've consumed the elusive devil fruit. The cargo would either be lost to them or to the depths of the sea. Recovery of the cargo would be too difficult at a certain depth, even for her and her crew. The best course of action would be to take out as many pirate ships as possible. For her... she didn't need a full-frontal attack. Just a distraction. The harbor had to be obscured for the coming months for her plans to work, however. A fleet of fifty trading ships from the Red Marquessa would be out to sea.
"Captain," a flighty voice called. "We got a message from the Astral Tsar!"
Javelin Himondo approached her as she stood up to watch the girl stick pins on her maps. The captain analyzed the spots being pinned by the little lady. Javelin hustled about with a scroll in the crook of her arms. Her uniform was always odd to the captain, but she grew to not care so much as long as the girl delivered top results from communications. The cargo was top priority. Javelin was a short woman who typically sported long, striped stockings, pointy-toe boots, long-sleeved pajama shirts, and small pajama shorts. Her hair was a light lavender purple, and her eyes were a bright green that called out to the playful innocence of people. It was hard not to smile around the girl. Ingagoh mentioned this little tidbit to the captain.
The captain yawned as the girl walked over to her Captain's Globe near the steering station. It was a simple half-cut dome that floated on water. Light and cleverly placed lenses produced three-dimensional shapes for the captain to view. Javelin pushed a button to activate the holographic projection of the new activity. She then said, "Well, that's a polite way to say 'what?' now innit? Beggin' my pardon. Whatcha got, Javie?"
"The Astral Tsar spotted a pirate ship just north northwest of the route," the little lady informed, handing the captain the scroll for her to read. She waited until her leader skimmed the document then pocketed the scroll to continue, "They're spotting activity from another ship just to the east as well. They're working on a glass decoy to sail between the ships, but one of the ships looks like it has a sheepshead on the bow. Ingagoh said the marines are familiar with it, so he wants to wait and see what you're thinking. Didn't your friend say something about watching out for a sheepshead ship?"
Nesi Llandala, the captain of the MarbleStar, tucked a lock of her royal purple hair behind her ear and placed her other hand on the rim of the globe. She analyzed the new details that Javelin and one of the gentlemen on her side input for the descriptions of the sheepshead ship. As minor recollections of the questionable cavalcade started properly forming the vessel, Nesi's features started to light up and glimmer. Nesi narrowed her eyes a bit, caught onto a small detail that was familiar to her, and visibly blinked. She then laughed aloud and said, "You worried me over nothing! They're the Straw Hats. That's Ace's people."
"Oh!" Javelin said, smiling brightly. "Maybe Mr. Ace is with them. It's been a while since he left. I'll let the Marines know to let the Straw Hats through. What about the other ship?"
"Tell the Astral Tsar to hold on the decoy. We'll send a G2-60 ten to port with soft cargo. I need to know if they have a DF lead," Nesi ordered, closing the Captain's Globe with a handle and turning to one of her gentlemen. "Aosera, I need men to align the nullifier gas probe if a DF lead is on board the other ship. Bandag, signal the Straw Hats near the docks. I'll speak with them, personally. They can lodge up in Ace's quarters. They're a small crew."
"What do I tell Ingagoh at the loading hub? He'll wanna know about the Straw Hats," Javelin mentioned.
Nesi smirked before saying, "I'll make him his favorite dinner with a special wine for the trouble. Tell his ass to stay put 'til I get an update. He's gonna wind up with no moustache stressin' out like that!"
"Too bad he missed out on the devil fruit. He could've grown scales like you to replace his moustache!" Javelin cheered.
Nesi, however, didn't like that comment and stretched her arms out to a full length before slamming her hands on Javelin's cheeks and shouting, "IS THAT A BALD JOKE!?"
"N-n-n-no, Captain Nesi, sir! I mean, ma'am! I mean, captain!" Javelin stuttered through pushed-in cheeks.
"I used to be beautiful, ya hear me, kid!" Nesi responded, stomping off to the landing room. "Job just ages me!"
"But the scales make you look cool, captain," Javelin complimented, chasing after Nesi as said captain grumbled to the next room.
The MarbleStar made its last circle around the harbor before landing in the airship dock. The engineers hustled to follow their protocol in stabilizing the ship. Mechanics went to work checking on all of the airship's systems. In truth, the MarbleStar was more like a glorified weather balloon... just minus the balloon. It produced largely foggy or stormy weather when needed to protect Seven Silver Mills Harbor and its inhabitants. Though a small place, it was the only piece of land that Nesi was allowed to cultivate and manicure with Quistador's support. Ace, if he was even on the Straw Hats ship anymore as an ally, was a big part of the small town's findings. She had to do a lot of the brunt work, but he supported her dream of bringing unity to the marines and the pirates once she proved herself to him. Even went the extra mile of making sure she didn't give it up when she couldn't take the stress of it all. She needed his trials and rowdiness to train her up and hone her skills to becoming a privateer. She was funded by the government, received steady contract work as a guardian of the trade routes or stand-in pirate for small crews, and maintained hospitality towards the more good-natured pirates like her beloved friend and a growing population of marines. That was what she wanted. Unity.
Nesi started to wonder what Ace was up to these days. She just assumed he had found something big judging from his last visit. He didn't say much, but he did escort her to the new dancing hall that Quistador Ingagoh built as a show of acceptance of the new privateer harbor. She enjoyed talking to the ruffian about his adventures, and even tried to probe him into conversations, but he was quiet on that day. He seemed conflicted about something, but, when he was ready to set sail the following morning, he seemed to be back to his usual self. She did remember Ace saying he was after something called One Piece, supposedly, so his visits became less frequent when he made plans to venture off. Nesi, at the time, simply thought he was leaving because he felt uncomfortable around the marines, but his last visit was... different. Something in him had changed. When Ace changes, Nesi doesn't see her old captain anymore. She gets to see this... other... form as she liked to call it. It's this piece of him that shifts away from the boy who "never grows up" to something akin to a philosophical man. That side of him was always the scariest to Nesi because he was harder to read, but it was that side that she liked seeing out of him from time to time.
At the start of her journey, she joined the Spades to understand the ways of a pirate. She knew she could form a peaceful alliance between the pirates and marines if either side would give her a chance, but no one wanted to listen to her or reason with her. She was almost always thrown out or beaten up for even suggesting a truce, but she didn't want to give up. It took five hard years to prove that it could be done. The task was never short of hardships, and she was sure her "captain" Ace picked on her frequently purely out of spite. She and Ace used to seriously butt heads whenever she talked about proving herself to the marines or learning fighting moves from them that could be of use to her goals. He was just like any other pirate, questioning her on why she would want to do that, but he changed one day. He never told her what he saw or heard that made him go from disapproving to this supportive and protective young man. She never questioned it either. She was his friend and crew member until the day they parted ways for her to cement her dreams.
"Luffy! Quit running all over the place! It's rude!" Nami reprimanded.
Nesi watched the Straw Hats approach her and waited with her hands behind her back. She simply smiled at the boy her captain called little brother. Looking at him, he did kind of favor Ace. Same rowdiness and big grin. He was just a bit younger and smaller in body. She wondered if the boy knew that Ace left her letters about him every now and then. Many of them she laughed at. Sounded like he was a playful character, and he embodied what she thought of him. Smiling softly at Luffy, she waited until he noticed her presence before greeting them.
"The hell's the Straw Hats doing way out here?" Nesi asked, chuckling at their antics.
"Who are you?" Zoro asked.
"I'm Portgas D. Ace's old friend," the purple-haired woman replied, placing a hand on her chest. "Nesi Llandala. He told me a bit about you."
"Ace's friend?" Luffy questioned with a curious look on his face.
Nesi nodded before responding, "Well, more like old crewmate, actually. I left to build this harbor for good-natured pirates like you... and him. Welcome to the Seven Silver Mills, Straw Hats. You looking to resupply or something?"
"What kind of supplies do you have?" Nami asked.
"Whatever you need, redhead!" Nesi said, waving a hand out to show the crew the bustling small town. "You're free to roam. Just don't bother the old men. They'll fight you over the eggs. Couldn't tell you why. We've got plenty of chickens."
"What are the marines doing here?" Usopp asked, exchanging glances between some of them with suspicion.
"They won't hurt you, kid," Nesi answered, putting a hand on her hip and another in her coat pocket. "I work with both marines and pirates. The marines guard the harbor and work with my town's pirates when necessary."
"They do?" Luffy questioned, shocked that Ace had a resource like this.
"That's how the privateer towns operate. We're the pirates of pirates," Nesi briefly explained. "We don't hurt our friends, though. Any friend of Ace is a friend of mine. He must be back with the Spades if he's not with you. Are y'all still looking for One Piece?"
Luffy was quiet for a while, unsure of how to break it to the regal-looking woman, and he finally said with a loud cheer, "Yep! Still looking! But, we'll find it. I just know it!"
"Well, good luck to you, captain," Nesi said with a short laugh. "Let me know if that ruffian captain of mine beat you to it. C'mon, I'll show you around."
Most of the Straw Hats followed Nesi, hoping not to bring up any memories for Luffy, but Sanji stayed behind for a moment. He shook his head at Zoro to give them a moment alone and asked, "Why didn't you tell her what happened to him?"
"The crew didn't come back on their own to do it. It's not fair to her," Luffy replied, despondently. "She deserved to know. She built this place with him in mind. Why didn't they come back here to tell her? What kind of friend does that?"
Sanji waited to speak before placing a hand on Luffy's shoulder and saying, "I don't think they knew how to, personally. Gorgeous as she is... I don't know if a captain was all Ace was. You don't build a haven for someone who's just a friend."
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