Domino hummed a random tune as she sat in a pub with Valeria and Artoria. The three of them had done some shopping and were now enjoying a meal. Or in the case of Artoria, a dozen meals. She had no idea where the petite blonde put it all but she could out eat any man. She'd honestly never heard Artoria say she was full, the food always ran out first. At least they never had to worry about left overs going rotten.
Valeria, on the other hand, ate like a bird. She always ate a full meal, honest, it's just that everyone else tended to eat a minimum of two servings while Valeria always stuck with one. It's not like any of them had to worry about getting fat. Their looks couldn't change. They would look the way they did until the day they were destroyed.
Domino herself ate a good amount of food, something between her two friends. Between their looks and eating habits, the three of them had garnered a lot of attention from the other patrons in the pub. Not that she was complaining. She found she enjoyed being looked at with envy and desire, especially since she was the only ebony goddess in the building. Actually, people with her skin tone seemed pretty rare so far. She wondered why that was but didn't let it bother her, it was just skin color.
She smiled at the cure little sounds Artoria was making as she polished off the last plate they were allowing her to have. If Artoria had her way, she'd stay and eat until the kitchen ran out of food and they didn't have that much time to waste. They might not be in a rush, but an entire day of watching Artoria eat was not her idea of fun.
Soon enough they paid the massive bill and left the pub. It didn't take long for Valeria to grow annoyed as they passed yet another store that didn't have anything she could use, "This place is so low tech it's getting on my nerves! I can't find anything useful."
Domino hummed in acknowledgment but didn't say anything. What could she say? She was no scientist, just a marksman with good luck. Just as she thought that, she tripped and stumbled like a buffoon until she bumped into a door and caught herself on the door frame. Before she could say or do anything, she heard a hushed voice coming from the back of the supposedly closed store, if the window sign was any indication.
"I'm telling you, the Vinsmoke's are looking to align with Big Mom. The word is out that their looking for one of their long lost kids. You hear anything about this Sanji, you send a message to their man on Sabaody, Ronji, ya hear?"
A different voice grunted then said, "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Underworld will go crazy with this ya know. Joker ain't gunna like it fer sure."
"Yeah, well, Joker ain't the king of the underworld. Just don't mess with his business direct and yu'll be fine. Just let yur contacts know to keep an eye out for a blonde guy with weird eyebrows, alright?"
"Yeah yeah, no go, don't want no one seeing you and losing legit business."
Domino decided that was her queue to leave. She silently shut the door and quickly rejoined Valeria and Artoria who were both giving her curious looks. Domino grinned at them, "I just heard something mighty interesting. I think we should head back soon so I can inform the boss."
Her companions nodded, though they might have stopped to do a little more clothing shopping on the way back to the ship.
Ai, Merlin, and Vivienne had decided to spend time together. Merlin and Vivienne got along for obvious reasons, they were the only magic users on the ship and loved to bounce ideas off of one another. As for Ai, she found magic fascinating and kept trying to get them to learn spells that would make special effects for her to put on a show with. Neither Merlin nor Vivienne minded as Ai's excitement and random requests and ideas helped them try things they never would have thought of. Their magic had grown in leaps and bounds thanks to Ai's boundless enthusiasm.
The three of them had just left a jewelry store where they'd purchased a few plain pieces that they could practice their magic on, especially enchanting, when they were rudely stopped. A group of six men blocked the path forward and when Merlin glanced over her shoulder, she saw six more men close off any possible escape route.
Seeing that they were surrounded both Ai and Vivienne looked slightly concerned. Neither of them were fighters by any stretch of the imagination. They might be able to easily lift ten tons with their strength and dodge bullets with their speed and reflexes, but it didn't change who they were deep down. Ai just wanted to become the best performer she could while Vivienne just wanted to constantly improve on her enchanting ability. Both of their personalities had been mildly influenced by Peter's memories of their characters leading them to almost become pacifists.
Merlin, on the other hand, curled her ruby red lips into a wicked smile. She brushed her short dark blue hair our of her eyes and scanned the men before her while striking a provocative pose, "Well well well, what do we have here? Is there something we can do for you boys?"
One of the men stepped forward while hefting his rusty cutlass threateningly, "Yeah, you can come without makin' no fuss, or you can make a fuss an' we gunna make you come anyway."
The other men leered at the girls and held their own weapons up. One or two even sported flintlocks. Merlin's grin grew as she asked in a salacious tone, "Oh? And what do you plan to do with us, big boy?"
The man walked closer while waving his cutlass in a 'threatening' manner. The other men snickered as they watched. When he was less than two feet from Merlin, he answered her, "If'n yur lucky, Cap'n Morgan will just sell yur pretty ass off. If'n yur not lucky, we'll get to play witchya before he sells ya off. He's decided that you and all 'o them other pretty things on yur ship belong ta him now. Them boys'll hafta go, but that's jus' how the world works. Now, ya gunna come quiet like or wut?"
Merlin tapped her lower lip while humming, acting as if she was putting some thought into it. In reality, it was taking everything she had not to just erase the little pissant in front of her from existence right then and there. No one threatened her Captain! NO ONE!
Then she realized something. Peter had only told them to not start anything, he never said anything about finishing it. Her smile grew as she found the perfect excuse for what she was about to do, "I believe I will choose option three."
The thug gave her a blank look and dumbly asked, "Wut option three?"
His answer came instantly when Merlin lifted up her hand an instantly cast one of the basic fire spells she'd mastered. A roaring column of flames erupted from the palm of her hand bathing the scumbag in crimson power that reduced him to ash in moments. He died before he could even scream. While the other men stared in shock, Merlin continued to act. Her other hand came up and began spewing flames as well. She bathed the entire row of men in front of her with the flames.