To Be The Strongest

A few days had passed since they had left Water Seven. The usual clear sky was now obscured by clouds with in the distance fog banks.

"I guess that is the Florian Triangle you spoke of Little Fox. I wonder what we'll find~"

Ban, never one to be pessimistic, looked at the dense clusters of fog with a playful glint in his eyes. He didn't even show any sign of worry or gloominess. Why should he? Even if something happened, he wouldn't die from it.

Akane looked a bit conflicted at Ban, wondering if she should even worry about him if something happened there.

"Don't worry about him captain. Idiots are hard to kill."

Laffitte said from behind her, a small smirk on his face. Akane felt a small shiver run up her back. She didn't even feel him coming up from behind her. Truthfully, she wasn't actively sensing her surroundings, but still. She should've at least felt or heard something!

"I guess you are right. But I doubt Ban is an idiot."

Akane muttered.

"If something does happen, I will gladly exper- nurse him back to health."

Shinobu added, as she glanced at Ban with more than helpful intentions.

Ban glanced at Shinobu, returning the smile she usualy wore.

"Don't even think about experimenting on me, you poisonous woman."

"Ara? Did I say that? How curious of you to think that. I would never cut you open to find out how your body works. Even if you are the perfect subject with your tenacious vitality, you are still a crew member..."

The last part was bȧrėly a whisper, but every member on the ship had more than great hearing.

"I knew it! Don't you dare come close to me! I'd rather let the fox operate on me, even with her poor medical knowledge. At least she doesn't have ulterior motives!"

"Ehhh, No way am I going to do that. Leave that stuff to Shinobu."

Akane countered, a hint of aversion clear in her voice.

As the two of them continued to bicker, Akane sat down at the helm where Laffitte was steering the ship. They were slowly getting closer to the fog. The ship slowly drifted forward, passing through the fog and entering the Florian Triangle.

"Oi, there is something floating in the water."

Looking over the railing after Ban's words, Akane could see somthing as well. It looked a lot like a barrel. Though there was also a piece of paper stuck on it with words written on it.

"What does it say?"

"Hold up for a sec... Let's see.... Treasure? Who would believe that? No way something that sketchy is treasure."

Ban said, dismissing the whole thing as a scam.

"If you say so. You are a thief after all, so you would know best."

When the barrel was out of sight, the fog became thicker as the ocean started to become wild.

"I really hate storms..."

Akane muttered as Laffitte began to give them directions on what to do.

The ship rocked violently on the waves, with green lightning coming down from the sky.

"My, how unusual."

Shinobu noted as she ran around, casually glancing at the strangely colored bolts of thunder.

"Shinobu-chan, no time for that, remember. Ship first, lightning later."

Coming out of her stupor, Shinobu did her part and the ship was moving agilely through the waves.

"They did a wonderful job. It cuts through the waves like tofu."

Not long after, they sea became calm, though the mist was as thick as before and the clouds were still as dense as before, letting not even the slightest ray of sun pass through.

"This got depressing very quickly..."

The darkness was suffocating, being darker than the night. The fog didn't help, neither did the sea that had become eerily still.

It wouldn't be strange if there were ghosts or ghost ships going around here. What about sirens that dragged sailors into the sea, Sea kings that were as tall as the red line or other monsters?

"Let's get through here as soon as possible. I'm not good with scary stuff."

Ignoring Akane's mutterings, Laffitte continued to steer the ship acording to the Log pose's directions, not minding even if there were ghost ships.

***

Luckily for Akane, even after a few hours, there still weren't any sightings of ghosts or ghost ships. So far all they saw where drifting pieces of wood and barrels, as well as the occasional ruined pieces of sails.

In the not so distant scenery in front, they could faintly discern the shape of trees. Even if the fog was dense, it was hard to miss, as other shapes were appearing as well. It was clearly an island, at least somthing reminiscent of that.

"The Log Pose doesn't point towards it, so it shouldn't be an island. At least, not one with a magnetic field. Otherwise, the first location the Log pose would've pointed at was the 'island' in front of us. Added to the fact the inhabitants of Water Seven didn't mention it when Florian Triangle is so close, just affirms my ȧssumption."

Laffitte stated, as they arrived at the dock of this fake island.

"I don't care if it is an island or not. This place is interesting so let's look around."

Not waiting for a reply, Ban jumped from the ship to the docks, walking forward and motioning for the rest to hurry up.

"You guys have fun. I'll watch over the ship."

Pushing Akane after Ban, Shinobu smiled sweetly at her as she and Laffitte went inside to make themselves a pot of tea.

"Traitors."

Akane muttered as she departed from the ship and followed after Ban with downcast ears and a low hanging tail.

Akane sighed as she looked at the ghost like surroundings.

She really hated ghost/ghost-like things.