One Piece – Halfway Broken

Warning! Chapters 128-131 were all posted back-to-back! Returning Readers, make sure you picked up where you left off!

Chapter 131: Night Oni

Robin sat apart from the majority of the crew, as she and Elder Northstar joined them in their early-evening feast. By the time they’d docked, it had been late enough to be full dark even in the world outside Starfall, and her additional time with Luffy and Yamato had been long enough for it to be properly meantime. A bit early for it, perhaps, but reasonable enough…particularly since the locals had brought out the alcohol and her crew was hardly shy about indulging.

Nami and Zoro were having a drinking contest, which for once Kuina wasn’t riding herd on to make sure they didn’t go too far. Instead, the First Mate was looking after a visibly tipsy Vivi, who had apparently decided to try what Nami and Zoro were drinking, though at least she hadn’t tried to get in on the drinking contest. Usopp was rather distracted with Kaya on his lap, and Sanji had yet again been triggered into waiting on Hina and Perona in an over-the-top fashion, despite their being proper local staff around.

Brook was, predictably, playing music for everyone and Nojiko was, thankfully, looking after Chopper. While their doctor could look after himself for the most part, he was still easily peer pressured, and normally Robin kept an eye on him. She rather enjoyed their frequent conversations over books and the little reindeer’s innocence, so it was the least she could do. Pagaya was the only one not present, aside from Luffy and Yamato, but that was entirely expected. While the Discovery could look after herself fairly well, it was best not to advertise that fact, so Pagaya had volunteered to stay with the ship. A common behavior of the older man, who wasn’t much for large gatherings or parties, much preferring to tinker with his creations and their various discoveries in peace.

“Well, it seems your crew are enjoying our hospitality! Would you prefer to join them? I can always spin the tale of our history another time.”

Clearly, this man did not know her, but that was easily corrected.

“No thank you, Elder. I spend plenty of time with my crew, but interesting history is far more difficult to find. An entire group of people like Yamato? An apparent colony of Fishman outside the Grand Line? These are entirely too interesting to leave alone, if you’re willing to tell me about how such came to be.”

The Elder chuckled and gestured for a nearby servant to bring them drinks and a selection of food, before turning his attention fully to her.

“I see your reputation is an honestly gained one. Not that one can be blamed for curiosity, even if it can be a dangerous trait at times. I’m more than willing to tell you about the Night Oni, even if what we know is riddled with as much myth and legend as it is historical fact. We’ve been here since long before the Void Century, even if our traditions are mostly oral histories, rather than written texts.”

He gave her a sharp look that seemed to pin her in place, despite having not sensed much threat from the man.

“Please do not ask what those histories contain about that particular period. We retain more knowledge than most, but the knowledge is dangerous, and the World Government would have no qualms at all about obliterating our people if they thought you learned something of the matter from us. We are not your Alabastian Alliance, the barrier is not proof against an invasions of perfectly ordinary Marines. Our security comes from our compliance and the World Government’s ignorance of what knowledge we retain.”

Internally grimacing at meeting yet another person that might be able to shed some light on her ultimate dream, yet who wouldn’t or couldn’t speak of it, she still refrained from poking and nodded. As much as she wanted to know more, she would not cause another island to suffer Ohara’s fate just to slake her desire. Particularly as the hints she had gotten from those like Neethrax and Rayleigh were enough to make her aware the truth truly was dangerous.

“Good. Now, aside from that point, I will be happy to explain our own story! You mentioned us looking very much like the Bearer of the Sun. In truth, I cannot tell you if she has any direct relation to those here on Starfall. It is certainly plausible, as it is hardly unusual for some of ours to choose to travel the world, and much like Fishmen we are naturally quite a bit stronger than regular humans. So if some of the Night Oni have settled on the Grand Line in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. That said, it is possible she shares no direct ties, instead merely being of the same ancient blood.”

Curiosity in full swing now, Robin took a sip of a glass of a dark, sweet wine the servants had brought and gestured for him to go on, ignoring the food entirely for now. Chuckling, the Elder indulged her.

“Have you, per chance, heard of the Ancient Giants? I’m sure you’ve encountered regular ones, on the Grand Line of all places, but the Ancients were something a bit more.”

Humming for a moment as she began to get a hint of where he was going with this, Robin nodded.

“Yes. There is at least one with a bit purer blood from the Ancient Giants running around the New World as a Pirate Captain. Little Oars Jr., who is very much not little. Far larger than a typical giant, with oddly colored skin and horns. There have been theories that Kaidou might be another such, but he isn’t quite so large and the horns aren’t unusual enough to be a definitive marker.”

Robin refrained from mentioning that Kaidou was Yamato’s father. While it wasn’t precisely a secret, it also wasn’t information Yamato really wanted spreading around to strangers. Still, Elder Northstar nodded along, seemingly pleased she was aware of that much.

“Quite right. Little Oars Jr. is known to us from bounty posters and is certainly of Ancient Giant blood, though somewhat diluted. Kaidou is technically more uncertain, but is almost certainly also from the same. It isn’t certain, mostly as there are other ways to have inherited horns. Some Fishmen hybrids are known to have them, for example. As are, supposedly, some descendants of a group called the Mink. Though the truth of that latter’s existence is something we know little about. There are persistent rumors, but no Mink has been seen in the South Blue for centuries, to my knowledge, if they truly exist at all.”

That, at least, was something Robin apparently knew more about than Northstar. Mink were rare, but they popped up on rare occasions within the Grand Line. Typically in the New World. The Nox Pirates in particular came to mind, a crew that had been active up until around four years ago and which consisted entirely of Mink. Of the rest of the crew only Yamato might remember them, as none of the others had been active on the Grand Line at the time. Robin had been, however, and had made a point of keeping up with notable bounties.

There were one or two others still active, including one of Big Mom’s officers and a crewmember of another Supernova, though one that had gone oddly silent since entering the New World. Still, they were few and far between, and Robin only knew their species name from records. It was entirely understandable that they were less aware of them here on Starfall. Robin had personally never considered the possibility of Kaidou being related to them, as he didn’t match up that well to them, despite the name and theme of his pirates.

“Regardless, this story is ultimately about us here on Starfall, and we’ve digressed a bit from that point. You are aware of the Ancient Giants, and that is enough. As it happens, a group of those same giants, often referred to as Oni, were supposedly in service to lady Asteria, who they called a Titaness or a Kami. Both names have appeared in oral tradition and what few texts we retained, but which is correct is unknown. Whichever the case may be, they followed Asteria into battle here at Starfall. Unlike their leader, some of them survived, and chose to stay here as guardians of both her grave and the Starlight Spear. Presumably, at least in part because of whatever it might have sealed away. What the ‘final curse’ is, I have no knowledge. Though the High Priestess might.”

Robin nodded, the shape of the narrative coming completely together for her now. She voiced the obvious guess.

“They eventually intermingled with others, humans in particular, and came to be called the Night Oni?”

Elder Northstar chuckled and nodded agreement.

“Exactly. Not a complicated guess, now is it? Yes, that is, at least supposedly, exactly what happened. The odd phenomenon of the Everlasting Night that surrounds Starfall attracted attention from all sorts, and eventually blood intermingled. As the numbers of the Oni were small, eventually their blood diluted greatly into the greater numbers of humans who came to settle here. Thus, the Night Oni came to be. Effectively, we are just a distant remnant of the original Oni…who come from an island of Everlasting Night. Even the name isn’t particularly original, hmm?”

Robin let a chuckle of her own fall, even as she started paying actual attention to the food. The greater mystery was at least partially solved, after all, and it wouldn’t do to let it get entirely cold. There was still one other major question, and a host of minor ones, though.

“What about the Fishmen? Aside from a tragic case in the East Blue, I’ve never heard before of a group of them so far from the Grand Line. There are truly a significant number of them here?”

Elder Northstar nodded, smiling as he filled his own plate with a few choice bits of food.

“Yes. As I understand their own tale, the Fishmen migrated here several centuries ago when one of them visited and realized, to their surprise, that the starlight from the Starlight Spear propagates under water. The primary reason that they gather around Fishman Island, or so I’ve been told at least, is that it is the only place in the depts of the ocean that is properly lit. Something about tree roots that carry light to the ocean floor?”

The Elder seemed confused by that, but Robin knew exactly that he was talking about, having seen the roots of the Sunlight Tree Eve when they first visited Fishman Island. Exactly how it worked was beyond her understanding, but the colossal tree’s roots carried light from the surface all the way down to Fishman Island. For that matter, it was those same roots that provided the oxygen for the interior of the Fishman Island bubble. Before she could attempt to explain, the Elder shrugged and continued.

“Whatever the case, the story goes that the first Fishman to see it told others about it, and this caused Fishmen who had disagreements with the Neptune family’s rule at various times to migrate here. Initially it was just a family or two, here or there. Over centuries, and as those families had children, there came to be a small-but-thriving underwater community of them here. They are considered full citizens of Starfall, though we mostly fail to mention their presence to the World Government. Without the Mangrove trees that provide the special resin for surface dwellers to dive, it is quite difficult for anyone to visit the undersea portion of Starlight anyway. So there is no reason to risk attracting certain parties’ interests…”

Robin grimaced and nodded firmly. While their true favored prize were mermaids, if the Celestial Dragons realized there were a population of Fishmen outside the Grand Line they could raid for exotic slaves, they likely would. The fact the World Government apparently tried to ignore Starfall, so long as it showed no signs of rebellion, had likely protected them from official discovery. Though Robin suspected at least the Marines knew of their presence ‘unofficially.’ She wondered if the Neptune family were aware? Well, it wasn’t her duty to report on the fact, even if they were allies. Best leave it alone, since it sounded like the locals and Fishmen were getting along with each other just fine.

“So what more can you tell me about the Night Oni and your history, as well as the Starlight Spear? Or even the city of Starlight? Even if it’s just legends or myths, I would like to hear more.”

The Elder smiled at that, seemingly pleased be her remaining interested, even after the big reveals were done. Which was well deserved, she’d say. Honestly, this place seemed just as fascinating as any of the islands she’d ever visited on the Grand Line. Which was quite a remarkable thing for any island in any of the Cardial Oceans to be able to boast…

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A/N 1: Hey everyone! Most of you should know that I have Early Access chapters over on P-atreon (find the link for it in my profile, or just search 'Novus's Fanfiction Works' in your browser of choice). I'm currently updating four stories a month, with 20,000 words each, plus at least one 10,000 word extra. One Piece: Halfway Broken is updated twice every month, so there are always 20,000 words of content in Early Access (currently chapters 132-136). That said, none of my fanfiction work is permanently paywalled. Support is appreciated, but it will make its way here and elsewhere eventually if you're patient :-).