Chapter 18

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Shanks was in one part of the ship, Buggy was a few feet away. The Roger Pirates were fighting the Whitebeard Pirates on their own ship. Of course, the two captains and their first mate are fighting against each other. Powerful haki was exuding from the the captains and the first mates but Hikari can't do anything yet.

She chose a somewhat safe spot if there even is a safe spot between a fight between two powerful pirate crews. Currently, she's on the crow's nest where she can see all the fights going on between each rival pirate. From her observation, both of them seem to be on equal standing with neither yielding to the other. Hikari occasionally moves a bit to dodge a stray shot from a missed shot.

So far, none of her friends have any fatal injuries.

Hikari continues to observe the fight below, taking in each pirate's fighting style, their habits, and their strategies in fighting.

Even observing them is not enough to placate her desire to fight. "Oh, right. Marco! I wonder if he joined the Whitebeard Pirates yet..." Her eyes steadily combed through the Pirates and landed on a teenager with blond hair in a familiar style as the future Marco. All he's missing is a half lidded look he will adopt when hens older. "There he is." Although Marco was much younger, he can hold his fight. The moves he used are reminiscent of the style he will perfect and use.

Hikari catches a deflected knife and twirls it around.

"The balance of this knife is good. I wonder where they get these. I think Laki would like this." The hilt is of a rich gold color with a simple design on it. She's reminded that these weapons belong to a pirate (a Whitebeard Pirate if she's not mistaken) and that she might have to return it. No matter, she'll ask where they got this. The blade was clean, not yet dripping of blood and it reflected the Hikari's silver eyes as she stared down at it.

That's when she saw a faint shape in the fog a distance away from the two ships in the blade's reflection. She turned around and cast a spell to see a few minutes into the future to see a marine ship coming out of the fog and attacking the two ships. The marine ship had a theme of dogs with a very boisterous but powerful person as the leader. His black hair is sticking out of some sort of dog helmet or mask.

She's not even going to deal with that. There's weird stuff in the Grand Line and she's gonna leave it at that. She cleared her throat, preparing to shout over the din of battle to warm the pirates that a marine ship is coming and that they should either wrap up their battle or run. Or they might gang up and fight against the marines but Hikari would be seen and the marines would think that she's a pirate even though she's not. Least to say, it would make traveling and finding information more difficult. She can put on a disguise and blend in until she chooses to reveal herself but she'd rather not have more things to do than necessary.

"HEY! MARINES ARE COMING!" Her voice rang loud and clear for without warning. Some pirates jumped, startled at the sudden loud voice. All the pirates looked towards where the voice was coming from in confusion to see a white haired girl. It took only a moment till the words fully sunk in. Then, cue the panicking and looking to their captains for their orders. Would they continue to fight each other or would they both form a temporary truce in favor of defeating the marines?

Whitebeard looked at the young child and looked to his rival. "You recruited a child? How far you've fallen in recruiting children to fight against my family."

Roger hummed neutrally. "She's can take care of herself."

Snipers that chose elevated areas to shoot down enemies looked through a spy glass and grimly confirmed that there is indeed marines coming toward them. They can barely make out the marine ship in the fog but they did manage to see it. They couldn't identify what ship it was though.

Roger and Whitebeard looked at each other and without words, they communicated with each other. Both captains called for their crews to prepare to fight against the marines.

Not long after they finished saying their order, the marine ship sailed out of the fog to reveal a dog themed ship that had the snipers shake and quiver with dread. In shaky voices that had them pause and calm themselves before saying the dreaded words, they said, "It's Garp."

A moment of silence followed by pandemonium erupted on both ships. Both captains grimaced at the new discovery and were deciding whether they should ally with each other.  They
quickly tossed that idea out, not because they don't want to but Garp would be relentless in his pursuit to bring them both to justice. If Garp hasn't changed from when they last encountered him (very likely not changed), he will pursue them both like a devil. It doesn't matter if they head in different directions, he will chase them down.

Normally, they don't mind a little chase. It's almost a friendly game; they all respect one another and they do enjoy each other's company when there's no chase going on and Garp just wanted to visit them. But they were in the middle of fighting and, while they have full faith in their crew members, they know that their nakama are going to get hurt if they faced Garp. They already had injuries from their fight with the rival crew so they're not in prime condition to fight.

Whitebeard clicked his tongue. "Well, Roger. I guess this battle is a tie. We'll battle some other time."

Roger nodded his head. "Next time, my crew will win."

"Gurarara! Keep dreaming." To his men, "My sons! Go back to the ship. We're setting sail."

"Aye, pops!" The Whitebeard Pirates hurriedly returned to their ships. When Whitebeard returned to his ship, two cannon balls splashed near the two ships. The waves created by the cannon balls made the ship rock violently and both pirate crew members curse and grab onto something to maintain their balance.

Hikari looks to the sky. It was a beautiful sky devoid of any clouds. It would be a lovely dye color and lacrima color. She's thinking about making the lacrima different colors. Another cannon ball whizzed alarmingly close to both ships. She dodged some the spray of water with ease, still staring at the sky.

She's pointedly resigned that she had seen the man called Garp throw cannon balls at them. Cannon balls that weighed a lot and he seemed to be laughing as he threw them like an athlete. It would be an amusing sight had it not been her on the ship that Garp is throwing at.

Well, she asked for a fight and some action (preferably without using magic fights). She got one. Although, stalling seems more of a likely option. Hikari sighs silently. She'll have to explain her powers if she uses them and it's extra work. Shanks, Buggy, and the Whitebeard Pirates would have the answer explained to them already in the future so what's the point of revealing and explaining it again now?

Panicked footsteps and shouts came from both pirate crews as they steered their ships away from the cannon balls. The marine ship is sailing closer and one cannon ball just barely missed both pirate ships.

Hikari should've been more careful in what she asked for. Fate gets a kick out of slapping surprises on her face.

Speaking to her earring lacrima, she says, "I have regrets."

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Happy holidays and have a happy new year!

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