Chapter 115: Recovery
Chapter 115: Recovery
“W-welcome to Spa Island…Captains? Ah, I am the owner of the resort, Doran Grey. I-it’s a pleasure to see so many distinguished personages! B-be welcome and enjoy your stay!”
Luffy tried not to grin as the poor owner of Spa Island showed a serious case of nerves. He understood why the man was extremely nervous, of course. Given the resort-ship was currently stationed in the waters of what had once been Jaya and was now a forward naval station for the growing Albastian Alliance fleet, Luffy wasn’t expecting the fool to try anything. Yet, he’d also remembered sparse details about the filler arc that had featured the ship in his past life. Those memories had caused him to stack the deck in case Doran got the idea to try something foolish in pursuit of his love for money.
Which is why they’d arrived at the island with guests.
Specifically, Luffy had invited the Hancock sisters and their ranking officers along, justifying it as a way to build relationships between their crews. Something the Empress had been all for, given that it allowed her to be away from Amazon Lily for a bit to relax, yet still be able to respond quickly via Vivi Express if the World Government turned their attention to her island. On top of Hancock, just to add yet more pressure, Princess Shirahoshi had been invited for a ‘chance to safely see the surface world.’ With both her eldest brother Prince Fukaboshi and Jinbe along as escorts.
To say the man was a little nervous to be hosting two of the former Warlords in addition to Luffy’s entire crew, was fair. The addition of multiple sets of Royalty, since Vivi’s father and ‘maid’ had joined them as well, certainly didn’t do a thing to ease his nerves. Still, to give the man credit, he’d found the courage to handle them himself, rather than shoving them off on one of the many scantily-clad resort workers who were bustling about.
Which was another change. To be fair, he’d barely expected Spa Island to actually exist, since it had been from pure filler content. Those seemed to be very hit or miss in if they were real or not, and were never quite the same even if they were. It was still a tiny bit of a surprise, though, that the island was heavily staffed with more than just guards. Objectively, it made complete sense, it was just that such hadn’t been seen in those bits of filler arc. ‘Scantily clad’ also didn’t mean a whole lot, given how the Kuja usually dressed. Honestly, even Shirahoshi was arguably wearing less, given standard mermaid wear was just a bikini top.
Still, he had to admit that the bunny-girl uniform that seemed to be prominent among the female staff was something he’d like to see on Nami and Vivi in particular. He’d have to see if it was possible to acquire some of those ‘uniforms’ before they left. Right now, though, he felt bad enough for the terror his group had instilled in the local possible scumbag. Time to defuse a bit.
“I’m sure we’ll all quite enjoy your resort, Mr. Grey. It is famous the world over for its attractions. Now, I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m quite interested in seeing this ‘theme park’ first. We never got the chance to check out the one at the Archipelago.”
The rest of those with him were quick to pipe up with their own suggestions, and Doran was equally quick to summon minions to show them the way…
… … …
As Chopper, Yamato and Vivi all three reeled, trying and failing not to look ill, Luffy could only grin. The rides here had proven interesting but insufficiently thrilling for people who could all use Soru and Geppo at this point. The food at the ‘theme park’ part of the resort had proven much more interesting to some of the crew, however, since it featured festival-style sweets from around the world. Cotton candy, funnel cake, candied apples, and more. Chopper had wanted to try it all, and an excited Yamato and Vivi had gotten caught up in his wake.
Luffy had stuck around the trio as others split off, suspecting what was going to happen and wanting to make sure someone was around to look after them.
He had, in fact, been right. The trio had made themselves extremely ill by overdoing it on the numerous types of sweets. Still, they seemed to have enjoyed it while it lasted, and they would recover quickly enough. Particularly once he stopped letting them ‘learn their lesson’ and used his Spirit Healing to fix their wildly spiking blood sugar and rebalance their digestive systems. For now, he was letting the consequences of their actions teach them an important life lesson…while he ate a funnel cake of his own right in front of them.
It was a bit cruel, maybe, but the looks of nausea on their faces as he enjoyed it were kind of hilarious…
… … …
-Lemon Starts Here-
Hina hummed as she circled the work of art she’d made out of her favorite toy. Oh, Sanji was very fun. He had a nice cock that she had completely under her control, good for scratching certain itches when she was in the mood. Perona, however, was a special delight. The sort of submissive that, once they decided they were yours, threw their entire self into it without hesitation. Hina had been very frustrated, over the years, by the fact she’d been positively surrounded by those sorts of subs in the Marines, yet unable to do anything with them because of regulations.
The fun she could have had just hadn’t been worth potentially ruining her career.
Now that said career was toast anyway, though, it was a positive delight to have found one again. Sanji was perhaps half as devoted, still having eyes for all the other gorgeous women of the world even as he became hers. She didn’t hate that at all, it was even fun to look with him…and maybe tease him about the looking when he already got to take two girls to bed from time to time, when Hina allowed it. She didn’t care for him any less that she did Perona just because the pinkette was utterly devoted to her.
But it did make Perona a bit more fun to ‘play’ with, as she was doing now.
It was perhaps inevitable that Hina had taken an interest in bondage, given her Devil Fruit, and her powers made her incredibly good at it. She loved binding her lovers, and had to admit that much of her interest in her own gender had started when she realized how much more appealing women looked bound in her powers than men did. Not to mention how many more fun things were possible with female anatomy than male. Or how much longer women could last with the right training and conditions.
Take her Perona’s current predicament, for example.
Perona had been delightfully flexible from the start, and had only become more so with training. Taking full advantage of that, Hina had her trapped in a set of stocks that held her ankles to her wrists, both above her head. Since she was also carefully suspended in midair using a set of chains made from Hina’s Devil Fruit, she was free floating in space without a stitch of clothing and lewdly exposed. Well, not a stitch except a blindfold, at least, to keep her little toy guessing.
Of course, with plenty of downtime right now, Hina hadn’t stopped there.
No, today, she’d gone farther than she normally bothered with, to truly make Perona a visual masterpiece. More chains, the most delicate Hina could make, cupped and shaped her breasts, squeezing them firmly without quite being to the point of pain. Tiny little ring ‘cuffs’ tightened around erect nipples. A seamless mental collar just tight enough to very lightly restrict, and with extra effort spent to emboss little hearts wrapped in chains on it. A frame of metal passed over her hips and through her legs, shaped much like a chastity belt without its protective shield, and doing the exact opposite of what a chastity belt would. Little protrusions from the frame had her toy’s dripping folds forcefully spread, unable to close even if her position had allowed it.
Perona had been hanging there, waiting for Hina to play with her, for nearly ten minutes, growing wetter and wetter from the situation. Deciding she’d been made to wait long enough, Hina carefully selected a toy from her collection, a single feather, and approached her pet with a wicked grin. She would see how long Perona could last before begging for more…than she’d add a nice ring-gag to silence her before moving to the first of several dildos. Once she’d properly edged her with each and every one of them, only then would she switch to the strapon and finally let her toy cum.
Of course, once she started cumming, she wouldn’t get to stop until she begged for that instead. The gag would have to come out for that, but there were a series of plugs on the table that could add to the fun instead when she had to let her toy speak again. The fact that she’d discovered this little sub was a bit of a mild masochist as well only made things more fun. Hina hadn’t gotten to use her paddles in so long she’d needed to buy a new set…
-Lemon Ends Here-
… … …
Luffy felt like he’d swapped genres to cosplay in the best parts of a James Bond movie, as he swept into the Spa Resort Casino with Vivi and Robin on his arms. Both of them were dressed to the nines in exquisite ankle-length dresses with high slits to bare thigh. The tight, clinging material of those dresses highlighted their curves, baring shoulders, upper backs, and quite a bit of thigh when they moved just right. They were gorgeous, both individually, and in contrast. With Robin easily pulling of the ‘dangerously sensual’ look in her deep black dress, while Vivi contrasted and complimented with an ‘Innocent Fanservice’ appearance in a white version of the same style. Complete, in the latter case, with a bit of a blush as she could feel the numerous eyes on her. While there were plenty of female resort staff around, the majority of those currently hosted by the resort were military officers from the new naval base, with the typical disproportionate number of men to women.
He had to admit, a part of him thoroughly enjoyed the envious gazes he was getting from many of those men with these two on his arm.
As they picked up a few million belli worth of chips, Luffy idly reflected on his surprise that Nami had pushed for it to be Robin who went along tonight. Despite getting over a lot of her money lust since she’d first joined the crew, he’d expected her to leap at the chance to fleece some poor suckers at a poker table. Instead, she’d pushed for making this a date between him, Robin, and Vivi. Admittedly, her reasoning had been sound, as Robin and Vivi were the two that had done the least together so far. In part because of their starting rough spot of being on opposite sides.
Still, Vivi’s disquiet with Robin had long since faded, and Nami was determined to make sure the younger girl properly folded into the ‘harem.’ Not that Luffy was complaining as he took a seat at a blackjack table and grinned at the bunny-girl dealer, Robin and Vivi each taking one of his shoulders to lean into. When a waitress in a skimpy maid-outfit stopped by a moment later to take drink orders, Luffy couldn’t help himself. Even if no one else would ever get the reference.
“Vodka martini, my dear. Shaken, not stirred…”
… … …
“So you say this particular salt comes specifically from Water 7?”
The head chef, who at first had been dismissive of Sanji, now nodded his head happily. Sanji had needed to challenge him to a cook-off, and suspected the chef only accepted because the entire staff had been told to walk softly around their group. But once the man had actually tasted Sanji’s best, he’d been more than happy to talk shop. Neither would just reveal all their tricks, of course. But a bit of a give-and-take exchange was both accepted and expected at their level.
“Yes! They can only harvest it after the annual Aqua Laguna storm that hits the place every year. It leaves behind this specific salt, which is vastly superior to regular salt in taste. Some chefs in the know believe it may come from the All Blue, though I myself am unsure that such a place exists. Oh, it’s not impossible, anyone that travels the Grand Line knows not to use that word. But the most I’ve ever personally encountered is locations where two of the ‘directional oceans’ sea life mix, not all of them.”
Sanji eyed the man seriously for a moment, then decided he truly meant his belief that it could be possible. Smiling a bit, his reply was cheerful as he got to talk about something that rarely interested others.
“I’m looking for it myself! I have no idea if it exists, but if it does, I’ll find it. One of my crew intends to map the entire world after all. So if the All Blue is out there, I will find it!”
The head chef blinked, then grinned.
“Well, let me know if you do! Now, what was that you said about using seaweed as a filler in pastries…”
… … …
Brook was delighted he’d found a fiddle player to duel with. Ever since Luffy had jokingly presented him with a fiddle made of gold and explained the story (and song!) about the fiddle player that challenged the devil, Brook had been dying to try it out. He had no idea how close his duel with the resort’s fiddler was to what Luffy had told him about, but he was quite pleased that his training efforts with his Devil Fruit allowed him to make a sinister facsimilia of the ‘band of demons’ to join in with his own playing. Really, he probably shouldn’t enjoy playing the part as much, but it did fit rather well with his theme! Thankfully, the fiddle player was a good sport and a native of the Grand Line that could roll with the weirdness.
Now, if only he could figure out just what the threads of energy he was seeing as he played were. Given the context of the song he was rather too frightened to meddle with them. He didn’t actually want to reap souls, thank you! Yet something about them sang to him that he could influence people with the threads in ways he hadn’t considered before.
Well, for now it was time to have fun. Later, he could think on this new discovery and try to figure out a safe way to test just what, exactly, those strands he was seeing were…
… … …
“Don’t worry, Shirahoshi! I talked to the staff, and we were lucky enough they actually have a female Octopus Fish-man on staff, who knows how to do massages for mermaids! This is absolutely something you shouldn’t have been missing out on!”
Vivi’s positive energy about the activity seemed to lend courage to Shirahoshi as she deactivated her bubble-ring to lay out on the giant massage table. She hesitated a little bit when Vivi and their other guest both stripped off their tops before laying down. Boa Hancock, said other guest, was surprisingly gentle when she winked at the much larger royal.
“You’re almost as gorgeous as I am, Shirahoshi. You shouldn’t be ashamed to show off what you have~. At least not here in private.”
That seemed to settle the mermaid princess. Possibly because the wink had sent stars to her eyes and a blush to her cheeks, the Princess very much not immune to the passive effects of Boa’s Devil Fruit. She fumbled just a bit letting her breasts spill free from the bikini top, and she did quickly lay down to squish them into the massage table as a way to hide again. Still, it was progress. Vivi had been working on getting her to be a bit braver whenever they met, and had found a very unexpected ally in the Pirate Empress. It had even been Boa who had suggested that it was ‘only appropriate’ for the three of them to get the ‘Royal Deluxe’ massage treatment together.
For some reason, something about Shirahoshi seemed to have given Boa a soft spot for her, and Viv wasn’t going to question it. After the way her fellow Princess had been terrorized for years, it was a work-in-progress to build her up again. Thankfully, there seemed to legitimately be a firm core of steel present in her personality, under the anxiety. Something that had shown through increasingly frequently as she got used to no longer being under constant threat.
Moments after they were all ready, the door opened and three masseuses stepped into the room. True to the promise Vivi had gotten after asking about it, one of them was a largish Octopus Fish-woman. Said woman had been smart enough to bring along a stepladder and somehow made placing it look elegant rather than ridiculous. Given Shirahoshi, she was going to need it, as well as all of those arms, Vivi thought to herself. She did her best to keep the humor of that thought to only a grin she could hide in the table, rather than a giggle.
“Ah, my dear Princess! You are so stiff! It is clear you are far overdue for a little attention! Now, just relax and let my tentacles and the hot oil work their magic~!”
Vivi could admit that her own masseuse, when she started, was nearly as good as Luffy. Objectively, she suspected that the masseuse was technically better. But Luffy’s touch being less professional and more prone to slightly wandering hands always added a frission of something special that just couldn’t be easily reproduced by anyone else…
… … …
As he soaked in something called a ‘hot tub,’ with little bubbly jets massaging his aching body that was entirely too old to have been put through the ‘Hell Training’ they’d just finished, Pagaya blessed the creativity of the Blue Sea people. Truly, this invention was a marvel, and he couldn’t believe no one had made it in Skypiea. Why it would be positively simple with a few proper dials! Certainly, he was already planning how to modify the Discovery to have such an amenity. The wonderful thing about a ship that could grow was the luxury of being able to add, well, luxuries.
Not that such was the most wonderful thing about the ship.
That was obviously Dis herself. Truly a miracle of a phenomenon. The inquisitive spirit of the ship often spent time with him in his workshop, perhaps more than she spent with anyone other than their Captain. He had to admit that he’d almost come to see her as another daughter of sorts, as he explained to her all about the Dials that were used in her construction. It was strange to think that, given enough time, a living ship would likely become the second greatest Dial engineer on the Blue Sea.
He wasn’t planning to give up the title of the best any time soon, of course.
She could have it after he returned to Skypiea someday to stay, perhaps. Though he had to admit he wasn’t sure when that would be. He had set out thinking to find a way to atone, at least to himself, for what he had done under Enel. For what he’d intended to do in leaving the rest of his people to die, just to save himself and his daughter. Yet, while he did feel as if he’d done a little bit of that already by saving people in just as bad of situations, he’d also had his eyes opened to a much larger world.
Some of it was wonderful.
Much of it was terrible.
He now understood that it was only the difficulty of navigating the White and White-White Seas that had kept his people safe from those just as bad or worse than Enel. Yet the world wasn’t without hope, to his eyes. In particular, his Captain’s entire family seemed to be determined, each in their own ways, to defy the evils he had seen. Something which had slowly changed Pagaya’s thoughts of atonement into something…more. Even he wasn’t quite sure what that something more was, not yet and not completely. But he was content to wait and let whatever it was grow until he recognized it. Assuming he ever did.
One way or another, he was quietly certain that his Captain was going to change the world, and he was intent on seeing it through. Perhaps, when it was all over, he would feel as if his life had been worth living for more than just bringing his daughter into the world. Perhaps he wouldn’t too. Either way, he would face whatever came without flinching or running this time. Even if the training the insane people he traveled with put themselves and him through was a bit much for old bones.
Sinking deeper into the ‘hot tub’ and letting one of the water jets work on a knot, he reaffirmed his plan to build one of these amazing devices for the Discovery…
… … …
The crew and their guests had spent an entire, decadent week at Spa Island. Perhaps because of just how much power had been concentrated in one place, no one had tried anything on them. Well, not beyond a single half-baked poisoning attempt by a World Government agent they’d discovered early on. They’d kept an eye out for such, suspecting that some place like Spa Island which proudly served everyone equally would have been a prime place to plant such a spy.
Thankfully, the woman hadn’t succeeded in poisoning anyone…and according to Kaya, it wouldn’t have worked anyway. She’d added a considerable amount of resistance to poisons in the ‘general health and healing’ packages she’d given everyone with her Sick-Sick Fruit. Which was quite a relief to know, honestly. Poison was one of the harder weapons of assassination to protect against.
Regardless, aside from that tiny hiccup on their third day on the resort ship, they’d all had an incredibly relaxing time. Relaxation that helped them fully recover from the ‘Hell Training’ they’d gone through on Rusukaina. To be honest, so much relaxation was so fundamentally alien to half of them that they’d begun to go stir crazy halfway through the week. Kuina and Zoro in particular, along with Sanji and Nojiko more surprisingly, had been affected enough to seek out other opportunities. Sanji had convinced Nojiko to introduce him to Lady Neethrax, so he could ask her about foods she might have encountered over the centuries. Meanwhile, the swords duo had snuck in several no-holds-barred training sessions on Sixis that had helped settled their itch to constantly improve.
Still, it was only now, with the Kuja and Fishman Island parties departing, that they properly turned their sights forward again. As for where to turn their sights too, Luffy had possessed more than one reason for wanting to visit Spa Island. The recovery period had been important of course…but so had been an excuse to run into ‘rumors’ that could take them chasing after some of the icons that now appeared on his System Map. He had taken the time to more fully outline what he could do with the System for not just Robin and Nami, but also Yamato and Vivi, while on Spa Island. Kuina had been included to a lesser extent, as she already knew parts of it, yet she hadn’t been as fully and explicitly informed of what things like his Map could do.
At this point his lovers, plus Vivi who was firmly but slowly entering that same sphere, knew about everything but his past life…and a few details about how the Relationship Panel worked. Some of what was on that was just a bit too awkward to tell anyone about. He’d even explained a little about Perks, though he’d not gone into detail, so much as simply admitting that the System helped him ‘grow in directions he chose,’ and ‘rewarded him for accomplishing feats.’ This world outright didn’t have the contextual framework to make how it actually appeared to him make sense. So he’d reframed it as best he could in terms they could understand more readily.
All of which to say, he was now presenting the crew with an opportunity that his System Map had provided, but which they were claiming to the larger crew was based off of rumors they’d heard on Spa Island. That wasn’t even technically incorrect. Assuming you could accept that a mystical, invisible map was a valid source of rumors…
“So, we don’t know exactly what the ‘Treasure’ is, but it is rumored to have both a strong set of Guardians, and be of some historical value. Since it isn’t far off the route we need take to get to reach the South Blue, I feel it’s worth investigating.”
In truth, all that Luffy actually knew was that there were multiple markers on the map at one specific point. One marker indicating the island (presumably an island at least) in question was one of the few places in Paradise that remained a challenge for the entire crew, with the other indicating knowledge of historical significance. Whether those were the same thing, or if there was actually ‘treasure’ there, he had no idea. Still, they needed destinations going forward, and it was a solid enough lead to experiment with while on their way to the Torino Kingdom.
They did have a joint training exercise planned with Amazon Lily in a few weeks, with the Kuja finally happy with the state of the new defenses they’d been pouring all their attention and efforts into. But that and the stop at the Torino Kingdom were all that was on the immediate horizon. Thus, Luffy felt it was time to start trying to make use of the Map features, to see just what it could gain them.
“Navigator! You have our course…in so much as we have one, at least! Do your best, Nami.”
Nami gave him a playful salute and headed to the pilot house, even as the rest of the crew dispersed. In truth, his Map would be the guide, so he’d have to check in with Nami regularly. Which wasn’t exactly a large burden for him to bare…
... ... ... ... ... ...
A/N 1: I didn't have any interest in rehashing the filler arc content for Spa Island. So...Luffy brought enough firepower to threaten a country as guests, to put paid to any idea of the owner pulling something. I couldn't resist adding his last name, though I wonder if anyone will get the reference...
A/N 2: The various crew snippets were basically just a chance to show crew interactions/perspectives in combinations that haven't happened much. Or to build more relationship moments and provide a bit of fodder for a couple of ongoing power ups in development.
A/N 3: I couldn't resist the reference with Brook, either :-p. That one I expect lots of people to get.
A/N 4: For that matter, I added the bunnygirl outfits mostly because it's becoming a running gag in my stories at this point...or might become such. Certainly, it took on a life of it's own in Displaced Hero, so adding them as a random thing here was mostly for my own amusement.