Siren of the Sea chapter 3 (Patreon)

One Piece parody; Tier 1

Contribution for mermay

 Chapter 2   https://www.patreon.com/posts/siren-of-sea-2-35822376 

Chapter 3 Discovery

While the Germa Raid ships did not have the main cloning lab on them, they each had a small lab, with tools, equipment, and materials to be called upon at a moment's notice. The place had a fortified castle, with revolving cannons on four sides. Along with the lab, the ship had a luxurious bathroom, with a fancy shower, a hot tub, and even a bathhouse style room. There was a medical room, stocked with basic medical supplies. There was a fully stocked kitchen and a nice dining room attached. The rooms on the ship were numerous but not as fancy as their rooms on the main Germa Fleet. There was a training hall with practice dummies, weights, and wooden swords. Across from that was a weapons room, nothing fancy but they were stocked for war. They even had a small prison ward or a brig. All that with a natural garden/lawn area. “What do you think?” the brothers asked after giving Luffy the tour.

“I love it, this place is so cool, we’ll need to change a few things but I think we can call it home!” The flag had to change, a ship was a ship, but the flag was what made similar ships different. Luffy tried to paint a flag with a straw hat and a jolly roger, but he wasn’t the best painter. “How does it look?”

Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji didn’t know what to say, it was bad, it looked bad. Luffy may have been a talented singer, but a painter he was not. He looked so happy with it though, they were facing a moral quandary, do they tell him the truth and hurt his feelings, or lie to spare his feelings. “It’s uhh...nice...” Ichiji rubbed the back of his head.

“It umm has character...” Yonji said.

Niji sighed. “Luffy, let me have a crack at it.” He painted the jolly roger and it looked amazing, the lines were straight, and even for such a simple jolly roger with a straw hat, it looked sophisticated. “There, how about this?”

The blue-haired brother was grabbed. “What are you doing you, idiot, do you want to upset him?” Ichiji growled.

“You really want to sail with that messed up art?”

“No, but come on you are gonna upset him!”

“Niji...” the trio tensed. “This is so good!” Luffy smiled. “You are such a talented artist!” Niji blushed. “Can you put this on the sails to?”

“Sure can!” Luffy smiled and kissed him on the cheek. The bluenette had hearts in his eyes. “Leave it to me!” With his raid suit, he was able to launch into the air and carry out his task.

“You guys were trying to spare my feelings weren’t you?” Ichiji and Yonji twitched. “I’m glad, it means you considered my feelings to begin with.” he floated over to them and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. The Vinsmoke brothers had hearts in their eyes. “You can be honest with me though, I know my art skills aren’t great. My big brother Ace teased me about it, but I still draw now and then because it’s fun.”

Niji finished his task soon enough, removing the germa crests and replacing them with the jolly roger. The blue-haired brother felt a strange exhilaration fill him, Luffy gave him his old sketchbook and some pencils, and the blue-haired pirate passed the time sketching. On their first stop off to get supplies, Luffy bought Niji some art supplies and turned one of the spare rooms into an art studio. As Niji discovered he loved to paint, draw, sketch.

He sketched Luffy a lot, him smiling, him singing, he even got Luffy to pose for him for five minutes before the siren got bored and the two had some naked fun times instead. Not that Niji was complaining. Niji set up an artistic experience for him and Luffy covering themselves in paint, and fooling around in a room and just to see what happens. They kissed, rolled around, Niji got pressed against the walls a lot. The mix of colors, the splatter, it was a mess but a whole lot of fun.

Yonji and Ichiji couldn’t help but be jealous when they saw his paint-splattered form, with handprints all over his body. Niji just gave them the cat that ate the canary grin and followed Luffy to the showers for a much-needed washdown.

There was one painting Niji couldn’t shake, the image of his mother weighing heavily on his mind. He painted her from memory, through his art he was able to see her clearly. Once he finished the painting, he cried. “What’s wrong Niji?” Luffy floated over to him. “She’s pretty.”

“Thanks, she’s our mother,” Niji said and wiped his eyes. “She’s gone now, but I can remember...” he gripped his chest, and Luffy hugged him. “I didn’t mourn her...I didn’t care...Sanji cared...and I mocked him for it.”

“You didn’t have emotions, it’s not your fault.”

“She was my mother, she died and I wasn’t able to feel anything because of him!” he hugged Luffy so tight he popped Luffy’s flotation ring. “At my mother’s funeral, I didn’t shed a tear!”

“Then let’s honor her memory, and give you a chance to say goodbye.” Using Niji’s painting as a funeral portrait, Luffy arranged a funeral. It was an emotional time, Ichiji and Yonji broke down with their brother with Luffy giving them support. The brothers had to face their mother’s death, along with the guilt of not knowing her more, the regret of not mourning her sooner. Their father said it was a weakness to mourn someone, to shed tears for the dead was fruitless, but he was a bastard and a hypocrite. The trio was able to mourn, apologize, and swear they would be better men than there father was.

Even though it wasn’t raining, an air of sadness hung around like heavy rain. The boys tried to remember her, but all they could remember was their training and their cruelty to their brother.

“We’re sorry we didn’t visit you when you sick!”

“We’re sorry we didn’t spend more time with you!”

“We’re sorry we didn’t care about you more!”

“We’re sorry we left you all alone!”

“We should have been there!”

“We should have gotten to know you more!”

“Please forgive us!” they were brought to their knees by their emotions. “We are sorry for being monsters!”

“Hey hey, that’s enough!” Luffy pulled them in for a group hug. “I’m sure she’d forgive you, it wasn’t your fault.” Even though that was true, it still hurt, they couldn’t change the past. Luffy lit some incense and said a prayer. “When you lose someone, you have to honor them and keep living.”

By his tone, they could tell he was speaking from experience. They each said a prayer for their mother, giving one last apology. The brothers each laid flowers at her grave, and for a brief second Luffy almost swore he saw a woman watching them, she was crying but she was smiling. Luffy looked from the woman to the portrait and realized who she was but when he looked back she was gone. Their mother’s spirit had never given up on them and was still watching over them to this day. ‘Are you watching over me too...Sabo?’ he smiled, even as tears were shed.

The funeral ended in song, a haunting melody, but one worthy of the occasion. Though the boys couldn’t see it their mother’s spirit found each of them, and hugged them, the first hug they’d been given from her since their birth. It was strange, it was almost like they could remember her a bit clearer after the song ended. Luffy called it the Song of Souls.

Luffy had heard of a custom where a household shrine is built to honor one’s ancestors, the four worked together to make a nice one, using Niji’s painting for the photo. It was all they had, but Luffy said it was perfect. “I think you really captured your mother’s spirit in this, it fits!”

Niji wasn’t sure if the memory was even real, but he had painted her smiling. Though a weight was taken off their spirits, the anger towards their father continued to grow, they didn’t want revenge per-say, as far as Ichiji was concerned if they never saw that man again they’d be happy.

After Sora’s funeral things returned to what could be called normal. Outside of eating, sleeping, training, and fun times with Luffy, Niji occupied himself with his new passion for art. Yonji found his way to the lab and as it turned out, he liked building stuff, he liked machines and gadgets. He had a drive for crafting and creativity that had been stilted with a lack of passion.

Had Judge not interfered with his son, he probably would have been a genius on his level, but without emotion, he lacked that spark. Now the spark was alive and burning bright. His first invention, after a couple of failed prototypes, was a gift for Luffy, as he found the bubble coral nice and all, once it popped Luffy was defenseless on land, so Yonji built Luffy a hoverchair, outfitting it with some mild weaponry.

Luffy’s eyes sparkled. “This is so cool! Is this really for me?”

“Of course, give it a try.”

“Is it safe?” Ichiji pointed out.

“It’s safe!” Yonji snapped. “The last two prototypes didn’t explode so this shouldn’t either.” Ichiji and Niji shared a look. The hover chair was quite comfortable, with both rear and back support. The body of it was durable so Luffy could take it into a fight, plus the casing would hide his merman lower half, so Luffy could travel on land incognito. It’s capability of levitation allowed Luffy to move across any surface with relative ease. Its basic locomotion could have Luffy moving at a steady pace.

It could have served as basic transport for Luffy, having a dial on one of the panels for turning, and he could accelerate and break with his tail fins, but Yonji added some extras. In the armrests, there were two sets of panels that operated the special features. The right panel handled offense, and the left panel handled defense. The defense was limited to a bulletproof and cannonball resistant glass that can shield Luffy like a dome. The offensive was also limited to two retractable Gatling guns. The specialty was twin buttons on both panels when pressed it releases some joysticks, and lets loose some grappler's arms, that Luffy can control with the joysticks. “I’m all out of materials but I wanted this work done for you. Once I get some special materials I can always upgrade it and...” Luffy moves over to him and is able to pull him down for a kiss on the cheek.

“I love it, thanks Yonji!” The greenette was swooning.

“Luffy, hold on a sec,” Niji came over and painted his symbol on it, he gave it a paint job, red and black with a 56 on the side. Luffy’s eyes sparkled.

“Thanks, Niji!” he kissed him on the cheek too. “When we hit the next island lets get supplies to keep your workshop open.”

“Sounds good, if we can keep supplies stocked I can keep upgrade our weapons, upkeep our suits, and make some new stuff for us to use.”

Ichiji watched his brothers, and his hands tightened into a fist. ‘Niji has artistic pursuits, Yonji has machines, what do I have?’ he left to go train, wanting to do something to take his mind off things. Luffy found him later, deep in some sword practice.

He was amazed at the focus and control Ichiji had. ‘I better not disturb him.’ getting around the place was a lot easier than hopping or floating around using the bubble coral.

The next day Ichiji made breakfast for everyone, to disastrous results, everything was burnt including the stove and oven. Yonji flipped as the repairs would take at least a week without replies. Luffy tried to eat it, but gross didn’t begin to cover it. If stuff wasn’t burnt to hell, some stuff was charred on the outside and undercooked in the center. “Damn Ichiji, cooking really isn’t your thing is it?”

The redhead grit his teeth.

“What a waste, good try I guess but maybe you shouldn’t cook again,” Yonji said.

“I get it!” Ichiji snapped and left the room in a huff.

The two brothers shared a look of confusion. “Were we too harsh?”

“No, but I think something is bothering Ichiji, I’m gonna go talk to him.”

“We’ll clean up,” Niji said, as Luffy rose off after the red-haired Vinsmoke.

“Ichiji?” he knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”

“It’s your ship, do whatever you want!” Ichiji snapped and a loud crash was heard inside. Luffy paused and after a bit of silence. “I’m sorry, yeah, you can come in!”

The door opened and Luffy entered the room, Ichiji had destroyed one of the training dummies. “You are strong Ichiji, you totally smashed that dummy!”

“Yeah, breaking stuff seems to be all I’m good for.” he huffed and sat down.

“What do you mean?” Ichiji ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Niji and Yonji have stuff they like, I don’t!”

“Come on that’s not true, you like me don’t you?” he teased trying to lighten the mood. Ichiji did smile.

“Yeah, but is that all I’m good for, fighting and sex. I don’t have a thing, I want a thing. Niji passes his spare time drawing, painting, and other artistic stuff. Yonji’s been in his lab building you a fancy hover chair tank, and he’s got plans to build more stuff. It’s great, it’s all great, but what do I have.” he sighed and shook his head. “I think I’m jealous of my brothers, and a little scared that...maybe all I’ll ever be is a soldier.” Luffy moved over to him and climbed out of his ride to sit with Ichiji.

“I enjoy a good fight,” Luffy said, and took hold of the red head’s hand. “I used to spar with my brothers every day growing up, they made me stronger and it was a lot of fun.” he laced his fingers with his. “Do you like training and fighting?”

Ichiji thought about it when they took over the ship he felt so alive, he enjoyed fighting the other soldiers. He was drawn to the training room, and when he got stressed out or bored he worked out, it was relaxing. Ichiji nodded his head. “Then that can be your thing, I wouldn’t mind training with you, and even having a sparring match with you.”

The red-head beamed. “You mean it!” a wave of excitement washed over him. “But can we really spar, you are an...umm?”

“Shall I give you a taste?” the two take their positions across each other, Luffy was standing on his tail fins. “Come at me when you are ready?”

“If you insist!” he charged at Luffy, his hand lighting up.

“Merman Combat, Tsunami Strike!” Luffy drew the moisture in the air and unleashed the weakest version of this technique. Even with only the moisture in the air, Ichiji was smacked around as Luffy spun around at incredible speed. When the attack was finished Ichiji was on his back with Luffy on top of him. “Still think I can’t spar with you?” he kissed his cheek.

“Noted!” Ichiji blushed with Luffy so close. The siren smirked feeling his hardness.

“It has been a while since we played. Come here!” He kissed Ichiji and soon the training room was filled with moans. Ichiji was worried for nothing, fear his lack of other interests was a problem, a sign that he couldn’t change. He could explore deeper learn new ways to train and to fight and use those skills to protect his captain and their crew.

To be continued