Dante's POV
During these 17 years, he was somewhat depressed. So far, he has traveled through three different worlds.
In the first 5 years, I was in a civilization of scavengers and conflict. There were no cities, or anything like that, just sand, lots of sand, also cars and those strange post-apocalyptic things.
During that time, I ended up creating a city where people could live more peacefully. Several gangs or tribes had declared war on me, but none of them could defeat me.
The next world I went to, luckily, was a normal world; that idea was shattered when I discovered a giant red puppy. What I wondered was why it was red, more than why it was giant.
In the end, I gave it a Devil Fruit so it could change its size. That turned out to be a bad idea when it grew big enough to take four steps and completely destroy a city.
The next world was similar to the previous one, except that giant robots suddenly appeared that transformed into vehicles and destroyed a large part of the United States. Luckily, I wasn't in the country at the time, and when I found out, I never went back. I have to admit, it was fun destroying giant robots with my bare hands.
I also got rid of my weakness for seawater. I bought a potion containing herbs I'd never seen before, but from what I gathered, they came from the world of One Piece. It was a unique elixir, lost to time.
Another important thing is that I ate another Devil Fruit. I needed money every time I went to a new world, and I didn't want to go through the hardships of the first and second worlds I traveled to again. So, after realizing how foolish I was, I ate the Renki Renki no Mi. The fruit I'd searched for so long in the world of One Piece.
With this, I dedicated myself to alchemy and blacksmithing and was able to achieve the American dream.
I also consumed the Fountain of Youth, which restored my 24-year-old appearance, and I haven't aged since.
The problem was that the world today wasn't very different from the last three.
While he was talking and modifying a firearm he'd found in some ruins, a teenager arrived wearing a bear-like hat, reddish-blue in color, carrying a green backpack and a grass sword.
???: "Dante, train me!!!" He practically shouted, his voice beaming.
Hearing him, I could only sigh. This teenager who was at the entrance to my cave, Finn Mertens.
I met him two years ago when I visited the sea to train some techniques.
*Flashback*
I was walking with the Buster Sword in hand, having been able to summon it again after leaving the world of One Piece, ignoring the laws of cause and effect. Because in this world, the sword was never destroyed, I could use it again.
Reaching the shore, I saw two rather peculiar beings: a boy and a magical dog.
I saw the kid trying to touch the sea, but he fell in desperation, accidentally hurting his companion.
Dante: "Hahahaha." I laughed at the scene. That made them both turn their gazes to me. "Sorry for interrupting, carry on."
The brat looked at me with a bit of resentment, since he thought I was laughing at him, and he was right.
???: "If you dare laugh at me, we'll fight," he said, pulling a sword from his backpack—an impossible feat, but it happened, since the sword was longer than the backpack.
His gaze was more on my sword than on me.
???: "Woof, woof, woof," the magic dog said, gesturing with his hands in a gesture of relaxation. "Relax, little brother, I have a feeling we can't beat this guy, and my instincts have never failed me."
???: "Mmm, okay," he said listlessly, sheathing his sword.
At that moment, the magic dog looked at me more closely, and his eyes widened comically.
???: "Wait a second, you're a human, right?" he said, making the commode open his eyes as well.
Dante: "You could say that, technically."
???: "You heard that, Finn, another human. You're not the only one," he said excitedly, stretching his arms out. "What's your name, buddy?" he asked.
Dante: "Dante, just Dante for now. And you guys?"
???: "How rude of me; my name is Jake, and this is my Finn," he said, wrapping Finn in his arms and placing him next to him.
Finn: "Hey, what's up?" He said with a wave, which I returned.
At that moment, I looked at him and then at the sea.
Dante: "So you have thalassophobia."
Finn: "Thalasso-what?"
Dante: "Thalassophobia is the formal definition of the fear of the sea, like arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and so on." I explained. "If I may offer my opinion, a fear like yours can only be induced by past trauma; do you remember anything bad that ever happened to you regarding the sea or the ocean?"
They both looked at me, one hand on their chin and the other on their hip.
Jake: "I don't remember you ever going to the sea, first of all."
Finn: "If I don't remember anything, then neither."
Dante: "Sometimes the victim blocks out memories of the origin of the trauma; it happens sometimes."
Jake: "Do you have any idea how to fix this?" he asked curiously.
Dante: "Not really," I said, trying to discourage him. "But if you want to lose that fear, you have to face it and defeat it, as if it were an enemy," I said.
Finn: "Like what?" he asked, scratching his head.
Dante: "Like this," he said, taking the Buster Sword in one hand, and using advanced Haki, I made a cut in the sea in such a way that it split open, forming two cliffs where the water slowly fell and tried to rejoin into one.
They both gasped in shock, since this was a power they never thought possible, much less for a human.
I turned to look at him.
Dante: "This is the hero's path, one where he has to stand tall and face the impossible, weapon in hand, to defend his ideals and followers, even when fear is gnawing at him." He said with a smile, seeing Finn and Jake looking at me with admiration.
*End of flashback.*
Finn: "Dante, let me become your disciple," he said, coming so close I could almost touch him, but he kept a sense of distance. "Your disciple," he finally said.
Dante: "No," I said curtly.
From that day on, he sought me out, and the day he found me, he was always torn between wanting to fight me, train me, or become my disciple.
I'd already explained to him that, even though I'm technically human, I'm very different from a normal human, but he just won't listen.
Finn: "Oh, come on, please, when are you going to say yes?"
Dante: "Maybe in another life. Jack didn't come this time."
Finn: "He went with Rainbow; he said he had something more important to do with his kids."
Dante: "I thought his kids had already left; with how fast they grow, they must be your age by now, or maybe even older."
Finn: "Yeah, it's kind of confusing." He said, scratching his face.
Dante: "I still remember when one of them teleported there; it was so surreal how he could distort reality."
At that moment, I stood up and started packing my things.
Finn: "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.
Dante: "I'm leaving OOO."
Finn: "WHAT? WHY? IS IT BECAUSE OF ME?" he asked hysterically.
Dante: "It has nothing to do with you; it's just that staying in OOO is ridiculous. The world is big, and staying here limits my options; we're adventurers, and staying in one place isn't good for us." I said, Almost ready to leave.
Finn: "So..."
Dante: "No," I said, cutting him off. "Stay here. You're still very young. Besides, he has family and friends here; I don't, not to mention your brother, who's getting older all the time. When he's gone, maybe you can go there. You don't want to leave him alone, do you?"
Finn: "Okay, you're right," he said sadly.
I just sighed. I summoned the Buster Sword and plunged it into the ground, which startled him.
Dante: "This is a parting gift, since we might not see each other again."
Finn: "Thanks, Dante," he said. He tried to pull the sword out, but he could only raise it a little before having to drop it.
Dante: "Tell the others I'm saying goodbye."
Finn: "Okay, but you know those two will be looking for you, right?"
Dante: "Ha, let them try it. I'll just stay in the light and be surrounded by acid; that way I'll stay safe."
Finn: "I think Princess Bubblegum has some countermeasure to that."
Dante: "Well, time will tell," I said, leaving the cave that had been my home. I spread my wings and flew away; I wanted to know what lay beyond Ooo; I would dedicate the remaining two years to discovering it.
And so ended my story in Ooo.