Blood Rando

"Mom! Dad! Where are you? I'm hungry, where are you? Mom? Dad? ...Hao?"
These words echoed throughout the night in the peaceful village of Harusame. The people who knew of the tragedy that had happened couldn't bear to tell the boy. The Iron Tooth Bounty Hunters, a notorious group of Bounty Hunters situated in North Blue who came to the town, had killed the young boy's family looking to get their hands on the bounty of his father, whom was once a pirate. Red-eyed Zurato, a 130,000,000 Beli, a Pirate who entered the Grand Line and returned to North Blue to live a quiet life in Harusame Village, his father.

The next day when Yoh woke up he could see exactly what had happened to his family that he could not see in the shadow of the night. As he opened the door of his room he could see the stains of blood scattered about his house, and as he entered the Kitchen, there were three bodies lying upon the floor, dead. Opening his mouth at his horror and shock he yelled an ear-piercing cry, which made even his neighbors cry for the boy as the words, "MOM! DAD! HAO!" escaped his lips into the sunny sky. As the boy wailed on for what seemed like forever, he heard the door of his house slide open. Scared for his life, the young boy ran to hide behind the refrigerator and curled into a little ball, shaking back and forth as tears streamed down his eyes. "Yoh? Are you here?"

That familiar voice resonated in his ear. It was the calm, cool voice of his best and childhood friend, Alexander Gomorrah. "A-Alex? Is that yo-*sniff* you?" was all that he could muster, "Yeah, it's me Yoh... I heard from mom that your father was killed by the Iron Tooth Bounty Hunters because your father, he... he used to be a Pirate."

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Yoh, it's-"

"IT'S NOT TRUE, HE WASN'T A BAD GUY!"

"I never said he was..."

"BUT PIRATES ARE THE BAD GUYS!"

A third voice entered, "Alex, it's all right. Yoh, could you come over to our house? I have something to tell you," and with those words, Alex and his father left while Yoh put his head into his knees wishing he could escape reality. After Yoh had remained behind the refrigerator for another 15 minutes, he shook himself to reality and headed out the door to Alex's house.

As the door slid open he uttered, "I'm here," and heard a quick reply, "Yoh, come in here." He did as he was told and entered the room to his right, which was Alex's deceased mother's old room. "Yoh, I know you don't want to believe your father was a Pi-"

"He wasn't a Pirate!" Yoh screamed.

"He was a Pirate."

"NO! PIRA-" but he was cut off,

"YOH! NOT ALL PIRATES ARE BAD PEOPLE!"

At that Yoh settled down and listened. "Listen, Yoh, I was your father's second mate. You may think this is biased because I was a Pirate as well, but know this is what I truly believe, your father was a great man, and I don't mean by that a great pirate, but a great man. All of his crew members looked up to him because he was nice, gentle, calm, yet still powerful, and I'm sure he didn't want to tell you he was a pirate because he was afraid you might react as you just did. Now, Yoh, I have a present for you, your father was going to give you this when you turned of age, but he's now gone, and aha, I might forget because I don't have anyone to remind me anymore. Let me see your pendant on your neck." At his peaceful and loving smile, Yoh could not refuse him and knew he could believe in him. "Okay, follow me."

He followed Mr. Gomorrah into the Forest behind their house and stopped as Mr. Gomorrah's hand was extended out in front of Yoh to signal stopping. From there he pointed at a huge waterfall and resumed walking as Yoh followed. They started to trek along the rocky wall up the waterfall until they hit a small, but useable passage straight behind the waterfall. As they entered the waterfall there were two chests, a long, slender one, and a short, stubby one. Mr. Gomorrah twisted the Pendant a little and separated it into two pieces, a Crescent-shaped piece, and a Circle-shaped one. He placed the Crescent-shaped half into a socket, which fit perfectly into the longer box, pushed forward a bit, and spun until you could hear a click and the box had opened. He then proceeded to do the same for the smaller box and after the click, the other box opened as well. As he placed his hands within each box he pulled out a Red Spear and a Blue Sword and turned around moving closer to Yoh. First he extended his left hand, "This is Aotsuki," and gave Yoh the finely refined sapphire-crafted sword with a golden hilt along with its sheath. Next he extended his right hand and said, "and this is Akatsuki," as he handed Yoh the next weapon, a spear with a refined ruby edge with a gold-crafted pole. As he looked at the two magnificent weapons he looked down as he could only feel resent as he knew his brother would have gotten one of these and his father wouldn't have given him them for another few years but he managed to mumble out, "Thank you... Mr. Gomorrah." While he said that he looked up and saw Mr. Gomorrah smiling and replied, "No problem, Yoh. If you want to, do you want to stay at my place? ...Oh right, you don't have to answer me right now, I'll give you time to think about it, haha!" The two then walked back to the village.

When they had arrived, Mr. Gomorrah said his goodbyes as he went to his house and Yoh went to his. He had spent the rest of the day gathering his stuff and packing to move over to the Gomorrah's. When he had finally finished packing, he went to his room to lie down, as he was exhausted from everything that had happened, but just as he closed his eyes he heard a giant explosion and got up immediately. He quickly went outside and saw that half of the village was burning in flames as cannonballs were falling everywhere. "It seems like there's another pirate here, huh?! He seems to be associated with Red-eyed Zurato, and I also heard this is where Nico Gomorrah lives! Bwahahaha! I found a real jackpot!"

"Nico Gomorrah?" Yoh thought about it, "Nico... that was the name of Alexander's mother....Nico Gomorrah, could it be," but Yoh didn't have any time to think about it any longer, as he heard Mr. Gomorrah calling his name.

"Yoh! Get over here! Alexander! You too!" As Yoh scurried towards Mr. Gomorrah, Alexander came as well, holding bags and the like. "I want you two to follow me, you're gonna leave this place!"

"Wait! Let me get my stuff!" "Okay, but hurry up with it, Yoh, oh, I forgot to get food, crap! Stay here Alex!"

As Yoh and Mr. Gomorrah sprinted in opposite directions Alexander was left alone in that spot. As he stood there waiting he suddenly heard a sound like a whistle getting louder and louder, as he looked for the source of the sound, he looked above him and saw a cannonball heading his way. Seeing it getting closer and closer he was frightened, pinned to the spot and couldn't move, it got closer and closer, 20 meters, 15 meters, 13, 12, 11... 10 meters from him a man intercepted the cannonball with a swift strike of his gigantic blade and yelled in Alexander's direction, "What are you doing, kid?! Get to the Eastern side of the village to evacuate with everyone else!" The man was a Silver-Haired man with a tall stature, clad in armor holding a gigantic blade in his hands. Alexander was awestruck by the presence of the man and ran up to him, "Please, teach me!" The man turned around and said, "What? Kid, just get to safety!" At that moment Yoh came running back out of breath with his belongings and said, "A-Alex, I'm ready to...*huff* go *huff* where's your dad? *huff huff*" Alex had just remembered he was waiting for Yoh and his father and said, "Oh, uhh, he went to get food for our leave." With those words, the armor-clad man turned his head, "What kind of idiot would go to get food in this chaos?" and out in the distance you could hear, "Yoh! Alex! Sorry I'm late! I couldn't find the salt bag... Oh hey, Xeno!" Everyone turned to look at the source and the armor-clad man, Xeno, muttered, "Oh, that kind of idiot would. Hah, kid, if that's your father it looks like we'll be exiting from the Western Shore! Maybe I will teach you then, if you live! Are you ready, Siegfried? Let's get outta this place!" "Alright!"

As the four of them ran toward the Western Shore, they saw many bodies, heard many people crying, and saw many people running towards the opposite direction. Xeno and Siegfried intercepted any and every cannonball that attempted to harm anything in their way until they finally reached the Western Shore. As they looked back you could see the entire village now aflame, but they knew they couldn't go back, so they headed onto the ship that was docked at the shore and set sail. As they were all safe from the cannon fire the two young boys were relieved, but had no idea the western shore was to be a path of bloodshed and death.

In the distance there were 2 ships belonging to the Iron Tooth Bounty Hunters were heading towards their ship. Xeno and Siegfried had gathered their weapons and were preparing for a battle and told the two boys to hide atop the Mast and stay hidden. Minutes later the two ships were closing in on their ship so they fired all of their cannons and had sunk one ship, however, they didn't have enough time to load a second round as the second ship had rammed straight into their own. The two boys atop the mast looked down at the battlefield, it was Xeno and Siegfried against 78 Bounty Hunters, however the two were quickly whittling down the numbers. 77, 74, 70, 69, 63, the Bounty Hunters were quickly falling one after another as Xeno was piercing and slicing through the enemies with his Gigantic Blade, the Zanbatou, and Siegfried was ripping the enemies with his Black Twin-Edged Axe the Gigantos the numbers started whittling down. It was now down to 14 when the Captain of the ship came out with his second mate and jumped onto the ship and ran quickly across the battlefield. The numbers still decreasing when suddenly you could hear a painful scream, "UAAAAAAGH!" The two boys' eyes turned wide and Xeno turned around after downing three more and yelling out, "SIEGFRIED! ...First you dare kill Zurato, now Siegfried?! IRON TOOTH! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" In his rage Xeno was killing off the rest of the enemies with a demonic look on his face, as the numbers now were two, the Captain and his Second Mate. The Second Mate grinned as he, in a fluid movement, thrust his rapier towards Xeno's left side, but his grin quickly turned into a look of desperation and fear for his life as Xeno turned at imaginable speed and shattered his rapier, and with that quick motion, reversed the Zanbatou and severed Iron Tooth's second mate, separating the upper half of his body from his second. As Xeno turned around to face Iron Tooth he found Iron Tooth's large spike-covered Mace mere inches from his Chest and met face to face with Iron Tooth. Iron Tooth's eyes, however was losing their color and as they both looked down there was a red, gleaming object covered in blood piercing entirely through Iron Tooth's chest. Behind Iron Tooth, wielding the spear were two little boys, a red-haired boy named Yoh, and a blonde-haired boy with tears streaming down his face named Alexander. As Iron Tooth's body dropped to the floor Xeno smirked and spoke out in a loud tone, "Very well boys, seeing as how you've just entered a path of no return, I'll have to teach you guys how to fight, otherwise you'll just die. You two, sleep well, because from today on, you're going to enter hell!" As the two boys cowered in fright, the armor-clad man stood there with one hand on his hip, the other shoulder-length wielding a large sword draped over his shoulder laughing into the night sky.

Chapter 2
The Crossroads

"Listen, from now on you'll either be a pirate or a simple killer. I find being a simple killer to be a bit lackluster, however there are people who will hunt you down for revenge, so to at least survive, you'll need some training, however minimal it is, training is training! Now... STOP DOZING OFF AND WAKE UP YOU PIECES OF CRAP!" Xeno had just kicked the two boys into the sea to wake them up from their morning daze.

"X-Xeno, he-... help! ...help me! I-I'm... drowni~~ drowning!"
"Well, isn't that nice? I hope it teaches you to wake up on time, eh Yoh?" as Xeno said that a thump was heard and a voice said, "B-but Xeno the sun isn't even up yet." Xeno glared at the exhausted Alexander who had just gotten back onto the ship. "Eh? You gotta problem with that? Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'Whoever gets up first, wins?'" Alex thought for awhile, "No... I don't believe I have."
"I'M STI- I'MSTILLDROWNING!" Xeno chuckled, "I'm pretty sure you haven't. I just made that up. Anyways, Yoh, it looks like training has already started for you, hasn't it! Ahaha!" appalled, Alex shouted, "Xeno... he might actually die!" Xeno's grin suddenly vanished and a grim voice loomed over him, "So what? If he can't even save himself from this situation, what makes you think he'll be able to kill another human being?"

"HELP!" the struggling Yoh was ignored,

"But... but we don't want to-" before he could finish his sentence Xeno had finished it for him,

"You don't want to kill?! It's a little too late for that, kiddo; you've already killed! You've already killed quite the Bounty Hunter... and you say you don't want to kill?!"

"I know, but I... I don't want to kill anymore people."

Almost as if in a daze, Xeno bellowed, "You're too soft, Alexander! If you don't kill them, they'll kill you. Unlike you, they won't hesitate to kill. Not in the slightest. One mistake and you're dead. If they make a mistake, so what? They'll still live..." his tone suddenly changed as he turned his head towards the sea, "Having fun there, Yoh?! I told you, you're going to enter hell! Hell takes no prisoners, escape with your own power!" as though something was possessing him, Xeno turned back his head, "Also... crush your enemies... with your own power. Got that, Alexander?" lowering his head Alex quietly muttered, "Y-yes..."

Yoh had finally gotten back onto the ship. "Whew! Urk... I thought I was gonna... hah... gonna die. He wasn't kidding when he said... he said we were gonna enter hell. Right, Alex? ...*cough cough* ugh... Alex? You alright there buddy? Hey man, what's wrong?"

Alex could barely speak, "N-nothing...let's go train."

During their current training they were told they were not to touch any weapons and were to clean the entire ship, whilst gathering their own food. If they were not to get their own food, they would not eat. "H-hungry, just one bite."

"Oka-"

"NO! Alex, do not give Yoh any food. If you do, your hell will be even worse than it is now."

"Ack!

"Sorry, Yoh."

"It's fine, I'll find my own food."

This strife occurred for several days until Yoh finally could capture his own food. After finally chowing down on his food, he let out a loud belch and patted his stomach,

"Ahh, food does taste better whenever you capture it yourself... but that doesn't mean you should starve yourself for it."

"It's fine, isn't it? Now you have something to laugh about whenever you become a great warrior, right?"

"Ahaha! That's true, that's true." Just then, a loud explosion was heard towards the back of the ship.

Xeno pulled out his Zanbatou and howled, "Pirates, huh? Listen boys, time to see the result of five days of training! Get your weapons, this is a life or death situation!" they both moaned, "But all we did was clean!" "Don't take it lightly! Now, ready up!" The two boys didn't know what weapons to use, "Oh yeah!" said Yoh, "Why don't I get the Akatsuki and you get the Aotsuki, Alex?" Alex thought about it for a second, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea! Let's do it!" They gathered the weapons and began to move whenever the entire ship shook and they both fell. The pirates had collided and were ready to plunder. "Gwahoho, there are two kids and a wannabe knight here, this looks like an easy plunder!"

"...Wannabe? I'll show you wannabe, you filthy Pirate wannabes!" Xeno had flung his sword into that pirate, killing him instantly, and ran forward yelling, "Kuten Ougi!" as he grabbed his sword he took a stance where he would place one hand upon the hilt, the other upon the side of the Zanbatou where it would be positioned at a 25 degree angle barely touching the floor whereas upon finishing the stance he yelled while sweeping the blade across the empty sky, "Sonic Boom!" The effect of the slash had caused a shockwave tearing off a third of the pirate's ship as well as damaging part of their own ship. "Aha, my bad boys, but don't worry! This isn't your boat anyways, and I damaged the pirates' more!"

The pirates momentarily shocked by the intensity of his attack were now preparing to send all but two of their men at Xeno, while the other two would proceed to kill the weak children. The pirates going after the children were talking to each other while running, "Hey hey, look, Jack! Those kids have some nice weapons, I think we should salvage them after we kill them!" the dumber of the two merely replied, "Osu!" Both Alex and Yoh were taken aback and bellowed, "Don't underestimate us!" and parried the pirates' attacks with such quick speed the pirates had no time to think as their chests had been pierced. "T-this is so much lighter than when both of us were carrying it. Amazing! Where did all this strength come from?" "Kuten Ougi! ... Thor!" The shockwave from the attack had sent everyone, excluding Xeno, 10 feet back, knocking many off the ship. "Kuten Ougi! ... Valkyria!" This time the rest of the pirate's ship had been shattered and the rest of the pirates had been slain or otherwise knocked unconscious into the sea.

"Ahh...that scared me. Xeno, you're so strong!" Xeno blushed a little, "A-ahaha... I'm not that strong. Yoh's father was 5 times stronger than me, if not stronger," but Xeno couldn't help feeling a little happy. "So how were they?" looking confused, Alex asked, "How were what?" Xeno smirked, "The weapons of course, weren't they easier to use?" "Oh yeah! They were a lot lighter!" "Well then, I guess we can start training with the weapons now." Yoh yelled out, causing Alex and Xeno to jump back, "Xeno, I... my father... become... I want... I want to become a Pirate like my father!" smiling Alex yelled as well, "I, too, want to become a father like my pirate! Uhh I mean a pirate like my father, and you too, Xeno!" Xeno grinned, "Good! That's the spirit! Now, you've chosen your path, don't look back, only look forward from now on!"

Chapter 3
Tears of Blood

As they journeyed further and further into the sea, more pirates and bounty hunters were showing up more frequently. The Zanbatou was becoming battle-worn by the day, however the Akatsuki and Aotsuki were, miraculously in tip-top condition as if they had never touched anything. The shining crimson and sapphire blades were radiantly glowing in the sun's reflection after the last two days of heavy downpour. "It's beautiful..." said Alexander in awe. "Yeah. They are. Umm, Alex, I didn't really get you anything for your birthday so..." before he could finish his sentence Alex replied, "It's fine, you didn't have any money at the tim-"

"I want you to have the Aotsuki."

Alex stood dumbfounded, "T-the...your dad's gift to you?"

"Yeah, he was going to give one to Hao, and, you're like a brother to me, also you don't have a weapon."

"Th-thanks, Yoh."

"I'll be sure to get you a pres-"

Interrupting Alex, Xeno spoke up, "Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey! Quit yappin' and get ready for some training!"

They both stood up straight and said in clear voices, "Yes sir!"

After their first battle, their training regiment was different. They still had to hunt their food, however, whenever they cleaned the ship they would wear weights tied to their feet and were each given different ways of holding the mop. Alexander was situated to hold the broom as if holding a Two-Handed Sword and Yoh was situated to hold the broom as if holding a Spear. They would rotate their positioning every week because Xeno said that they would not always have the Aotsuki or Akatsuki, especially Yoh, seeing as how spears were rare to find nowadays. During their travel, this being their 2nd Month at sea, Yoh's birthday was just seventeen days away. He would be 11 years of age March 2nd yet already, at 10 years of age he had a 11,000,000 Bounty, same with Alexander as they've killed off some low-class pirates of 9,000,000 and less. Many were shocked at how these two young boys had reached the bounty list, and figured it was because they were with the 100,000,000 Bounty Xeno the Knight overlooking them. Therefore they were bombarded even more by bounty hunters seeking an easy bounty, usually sending five to ten men against the two boys and the rest against Xeno depending on how large their group was.

The two boys were looking up at the sky reminiscing about the past. "It sure has been quite a while since we left the village." Yoh had started the conversation, "Yeah, I can remember it like it was yesterday, the fire... the screaming...my father..." Alex's voice started cracking, "I'm sorry, Alex, I didn't mean to..." Alex stopped him, "No, Yoh, it's fine. You lost your father as well, I'm just being a little wuss here, aren't I?" Alex wiped his eyes, "Don't worry about me...actually, worry about yourself, it looks like here's another boun- no...that's a pirate ship. The flag has...a green leaf from its mouth, Green Leaf Pirates?" Xeno walked by, "Who knows? But what I do know is that it's gonna be a battle." The boys picked up their weapon of choice and started manning the ship to go straight into a head-on collision. "The hunt...is on!"

The two ships collided. "Look what we have here, some pirates. Fancy to tell us the name of your crew, boy?" Xeno's provocation had worked, "You bit-"

"Stop. Looks like we meet again, Knight" Everyone looked towards the direction of the voice.

Everyone in the opposing pirates' crew praised, "Captain!"

Xeno grew furious at seeing the Captain, Alexander spoke up however, "Hah, your captain looks like an idiot!"

Xeno actually spoke this time, "Alex, no! Greenbeard, I won't forgive what you did to Arianna...Alex, Yoh, take care of the rest of the crew, I'll take care of Greenbeard personally."

All of the Greenbeard Pirates' crew laughed, "You think those two little runts can take us on? Ha! Bring it on!"

As if the weather was watching the battle, the skies turned dark, thunder began roaring, and it began raining, with that Xeno formed a grin making him look almost like a demon, "If you underestimate them, I can't guarantee your lives. Boys, don't slip. It'll be a bloodbath, and you...Greenbeard." Xeno thrust his Zanbatou into the ship, leaving it stationary as he shot out a thumbs up and slowly rotated it counter-clockwise until it was upside down, "You're going down."

At that, the Greenbeard Pirates, enraged at this mockery of their Captain all charged at Xeno. "Sacred warriors of the lost realm, hear my plea and give me your strength!" those words echoed in the night unnoticed except by the young Yoh, "Alex?" Alexander had begun glowing at the chant of these words, "Heh, something my dad left with me! BERSERKER!" At the call of that name, the Aotsuki began growing a red aura, along with Alexander himself. Yoh was shocked, not only by the aura, but at the fact that after it had happened to quickly, as if lightning, Alexander flew through the air so gracefully separating both bodies and rain with a single swipe. Xeno smirked while parrying Greenbeard's axe, "Seems like your dad didn't die without leaving you a little something as well, eh Alexander?" tearing apart another two people in a single swipe before turning around, Alexander finally replied, "Yeah, this is amazing!" Yoh was trembling now. Not only at how powerful Alexander became, but how weak he had felt. Both Alexander and Xeno were way out of his league; he couldn't even compete. Before he had even moved from his spot he felt a sharp pain in his chest. It started feeling warm. Yoh looked down, and his eyes widened, a sword had impaled him.

Everything, even time, felt as if it had stopped. He couldn't think, he couldn't hear, he could only see the sword sticking out of his chest laden with his own blood, dripping. "What is...this?" he had lost all reason and didn't know what was happening anymore, his mind was warping and his eyes whitening, everything was becoming blurry.

In the distorted, blurry world he heard from Alex, "No! Yoh! YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Why....why Yoh?! WHY?!"

From Xeno, "Dammit! If only I wasn't so selfish! I shouldn't have given him the task of taking on more than three people! YOU! STEP AWAY FROM THAT BOY!"

From Greenbeard, "Gahahaha! Xeno, what's wrong?! Can't take another loss like your wife?!"

And from the pirate behind him, all he could hear was laughter.

Everything had now turned blank. The nameless pirate had now thrown Yoh's body, like a ragdoll, into the raging sea. The body was just stirring in the dark abysmal waters affected by the rain and drifted further and further away from the boat. Further and further away from anything, further and further from everything...further and further, even from life. Back on the boat was now a pile of bodies, most noticeable was that of Greenbeard and a nameless pirate. Their bodies were motionless and battered, cut, torn, but perfectly intact, however their skulls were shattered and impaled by a single red spear with a golden pole. Upon that rainy day, blood and tears were flowing on that little boat marked with a skull and crossbones with a deep red that dripped down like tears from the sockets.

"Goodbye, Yoh E. Sodom..."
Chapter 4
Heaven or Hell

"...h."

"...h."

"...oh."

"...oh ...ke ...p"

"Yoh, wake up."

"Yoh, wake up!" The voice was getting louder.

"Yoh! Wake up!" It was as if it was right next to him.

"Yoh! Wa-"

It was interrupted, "I'm up, I'm up...Where am I? Who are you? ...am I...dead?"

The voice was soft and serene, "No. You're just lost. Lost in the darkness."

Dumbfounded he asked, "Lost? In the darkness? What do you mean? I don't understand..."

"It's fine, everything will be revealed in due time, first, open your eyes."

He did as he was told and opened his eyes. Surrounded, everywhere, in whiteness, he was suspended in the nothingness and there, in front of him was a small girl who looked about the same age as himself smiling, looking back at him. A circlet looming over it split her long blonde head of hair and she had crystal blue eyes, which were even more beautiful than even the Aotsuki's Blade. Looking at her he couldn't help but blush and look down at his feet, which were suspended. Raising his head, "H-hello...I'm.." he started, but she smiled at him and said, "Yes, I know. Yoh E. Sodom, nice to meet your acquaintance. I am Serene." He once again looked at his feet blushing, "Nice to meet you too, Serene." She giggled and began to talk, but her tone was more serious this time, "Yoh. You are weak," he was taken aback, "but that's only on the outside. I know your emotions are unstable but deep in here," she touched his chest straight at where the heart would be, "there's an extraordinary amount of strength. Just, you don't know it. Well? Would you like to try it out?" He was uncertain, but he nodded his head. "Well then, 'Dark Seal of the Forbidden Ruler, Master of Death open the Gates of Darkness, Rodin.'"

Suddenly everything surrounding them turned to the darkest black, all hints of the white light were banished and expelled from the area. Then it felt as if he was in a vacuum as he was sucked into a small red glint, which grew larger and larger until he was standing on gravel of a crimson blood red color in a land of darkness. Winged beings flew across the skies, enormous black creatures prowled the floor, and there were no signs of humans, or a village. "Welcome," said a voice nearby and as he looked it was Serene except her blonde hair had turned black, her crystal blue eyes were a deep scarlet red and her circlet was gone and in its stead lie a big red bow atop her head, "to the depths of your soul."

Yoh's heart began beating faster, "This is...my soul? Why is it so...scary?" Serene smiled and calmly replied, "Darkness. The Darkness that lives on in your soul is this. It's escalated to such a level, almost all Light has become consumed. If you wish to continue living, I ask, can you...overcome your darkness?" There was a long pause, "...Leave it to me!"

Chapter 5
The Path to Take

"Alone... Scared... Regretful... Resentful... this is my Darkness... the depths of my soul. I... I... I'm not gonna die from something like this!" Yoh's body was enveloped in a soft light, "Darkness of my soul, hear me, you are... nothing!" As those words left his mouth, a path leading straight forward appeared and he began to walk upon it. "Ephemeral. Eternity. Endeavor. Enlightenment. Endless. Evolving. Elegant...Evil...Eminence...Existence... I wonder... what is his 'E.'?" Serene's body began to slowly disappear, "It seems... things are going to just get more interesting from now on. Hahaha!" Serene was now nowhere to be found; all that was left were the footprints lying in the sanded gravel. Without looking back Yoh headed forward until he reached the end of the path where it now split into three.

There was a seal upon each path and engraved into rocks were different words.
The left, "The one who will destroy. 'Power. The lust for power will lead you to your destruction. What is your response?'"
The middle, "The one who will reign. 'Wisdom. The endless knowledge causes defects. What is your response?'"
The right, "The one who excels. 'Skill. Perfection is never achieved. What is your response?"
In the center path where he stood were the words, "Nothing is without cost."
He walked up to a seal and place his hands upon its wall, "...Power. The lust for power will lead you to your destruction. What is your reponse?" A grin arose from Yoh's face as he opened his mouth, "Don't you think fate's more interesting when you don't know it? Destruction is just an obstacle to be overcome in my path, just as this seal is." The seal had vanished into nothingness. Yoh continued to follow the path.

"Yoh E. Sodom. Welcome to the Seal of Power. What is your objective?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want Power!"

"...Do you truly believe you can control the Power?"

"Hah! This is my world! I am the King!"

"Nothing is without cost."

"Yet if I die, everything is lost."

"...You still insist on the Power?"

"And if I am?"

"Prove your worth. Soul of Fire...burst!"

Suddenly, Yoh's body ignited in flames, "UGH.... HAAAAAAAAAA!" he began screaming in pain as he fell to the floor, "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" His body froze for a few moments, and then he began getting back to his feet, "Haa... haa... I told you... I am the King!" As he looked forward he realized his vision was strange, "Wha-what is this?" The abysmal voice replied in its emotionless tone, "As I've told you, 'Nothing is without cost.' However, you surprise me, you stood even while burning. Time is an infinitesimal abyss, will you walk into the unknown it holds in its wake?" Steam was exuding from Yoh's burning body when his body twitched as he realized, "I see... Ha...haha, or should I say I don't... I've lost sight in my Left Eye... interesting, Soul Master! This is one battle I won't lose, the unknown shall be severed at the coming of my path, watch my glorious prowess! My Road of Destruction!"

"Very well... Yoh E. Sodom, you have earned the Soul of Fire, now, awaken!"
Chapter 6
Awakening to Cooking

Brown wooden walls. A small wooden chair. Cupboard to the right. Everything was wooden except for the single empty cup on a plate atop the cupboard and the pictures in the room and... "Where am I?" the young boy upon the soft bed. "I wonder how I got here..." the young boy got off of the bed and looked around until his eyes were focused on a set of stairs going downwards. "Hmm..." the boy hesitated for only a split second before deciding to go down the stairs. Before he actually reached the mysterious flooring a man spotted him and yelled out, "Hey, the kid's awake! Get the chief!" at those words everyone stopped what they were doing and turned around to look at the boy as one man scurried to get the so called "Chief."

One man asked, "Hey, boy, what's your name?"

Another replied, "Gahaha, that shouldn't be the first thing to ask, he's been out for two weeks, you're supposed to ask how he is first."

"Oh yeah, that's right. How are you boy?" said the first man, sounding sympathetic.

"I-I'm fine. Where am I?" the boy asked.

A third, stranger voice came in the back, "Ahahahaha!" the voice came closer as the people surrounding the boy were separating into two halves of left and right as if a knife had cut between them and a man with blonde hair which covered one eye and a curly eyebrow walked in the middle, "You're on the Basilica, the finest floating restaurant in the entire world! I am the lead chef, Sanji. Nice to meet you, ...you..."

"It's Yoh." The young boy replied.

"Ah, yes! Yoh. What a fine name. Welcome to the Basilica, would you like a meal?"

"Ye-!" the boy stopped, "I don't have any money."

"Hahaha! Of course you don't, you drifted in the ocean for days, if you had any money on you, it'd have washed into the sea. It's fine. Jonathan, fetch me an apron, Allen, I'm going to use your work place, Nobu, bring me my shades!" at those words everyone began whispering in excitement, most notable was he word, "shades." Everyone stood in excitement as Sanji walked up to Allen's work place, which had pots, pans, seasonings, spices, oils, anything and everything you would ever need to cook. As Jonathan returned with an apron, Sanji put it on quickly as the excitement started rising. Then it reached its peak to where customers began looking through any openings into the Kitchen to see what was happening whenever Nobu walked in with orange rectangular shades. As Nobu handed Sanji the shades, he flicked them into the air, caught them, neatly secured it onto his face, and recited the words, "Call me Prince."

At this, all the other cooks roared with excitement, laughter, and joy. The onlookers from outside the kitchen began getting curious and started watching closer as Sanji called out ingredients and masterfully began cooking a dish Yoh had never seen before. It was quickly growing in size, changing in color, altering in smell, and looking even more and more scrumptious by the second. Everyone began drooling as he was cooking up a storm, it could no longer be considered cooking, it was an art. The other chefs completely forgot about their job, but it was of no real relevance as the people outside had completely forgotten about their own food and were focused on the creation of Sanji's Masterpiece laid out in a pan being whisked rapidly while being flung into the air only to have every last piece return to its position. When at last instead of calling out an ingredient to add to the dish he said, "Plate" everyone's eyes fixated upon the circular glass dish until it reached Sanji's hand. Then was a spectacle to be remembered, Sanji swiftly swiped the pan across the air, flipped it upside down, placed it over the plate, spun the pan off of the plate, grasped it in his right hand once again, this time right side up, and with his left hand upon the plate, right upon the pan, he said three words that would forever impact Yoh's life forever, which made all the men drool, and the females blush, some even faint, "Dinner is served."

After taking the plate, he grabbed the spoon, scooped up some of the food, placed it into his mouth and froze. He just stood there, motionless, until you could see tears trickle down his face, more and more. "This...this...this is amazing. This is the best thing I've ever tasted. This is... delicious!" and at those words Sanji pushed his glasses up into position, smiled, put his hands into his pockets and said, "Glad you like it. However, everyone, get back to serving the customers!" Everyone just remembered what they were doing and started all moving at the same time creating mass chaos for a few minutes. During this time Yoh was chowing down on the 4th step from the floor with tears streaming down his face. When he finished he yelled out to Sanji who was watching him, "Please! Please teach me how to cook!" Taken aback, Sanji looked at the boy for a while. Staring into his eyes he saw determination and remembered Yoh was just like himself when he was a young boy working under Red Leg. Placing his hand on Yoh's head an rubbing it, "I suppose I could, but what do I get in return, Little Eggplant?"

"You get... you get... another cook! Yeah!"

"Ah! Is that so? I see, that's quite the offer. Hmm, but cooking could get in the way in your dreams."

Yoh lowered his head and quietly whispered, "...What dreams?"

Sanji looked at the boy, "You... don't have any dreams?"

"No..."

"What about becoming a cook?"

"Is that... a dream?"

"Of course! Then, how about, becoming the number one cook in the world!"

"Yeah... Yeah!"

"And, how about going to see All Blue, the place cooks all over the world can only dream of?"

"Yeah! Wait, what's All Blue?"

"You don't know what All Blue is?! It's the ultimate spot for fish. Fish from all four seas together in one spot. That is All Blue. It's a legend among cooks, people tell stories of it, but they say only few have actually seen it, and that, in it's own, is another legend."

"All Blue... I want to see it..."

"Yeah. It's a wonderful place..."

"You've been there?!"

"Uh, no! No way. I mean, I can just imagine it. It's amazing, isn't it? Fish from all four of the seas in it, it's wonderful, but uhh, forget about that and let's get started with your training, huh?"

"Yeah! What do I cook first?"

Sanji gave a menacing grin, "Oh, you don't cook, Little Eggplant. Hahaha, you wash."
With that, Sanji led Yoh to the Sink, grabbed a Sponge, showed him the supplies and turned on the water for him. Yoh scowled, but Sanji merely laughed and walked off while taking off his Shades. "Have fun."
Chapter 7
They call me "Ace"

Two months since that day, Yoh had still been washing dishes. His birthday had long since passed and he was now 11 years old. It had started as any other day, getting woken up by a random chef, this time it was Lago, walking down the stairs, and washing dishes. However this wasn't any ordinary day, today a strange customer walked in with a cowboy hat with goggles upon it, no shirt, jean shorts with a dagger on its side, and a big tattoo on the back which resembled a large white bearded skull. Upon his left arm bore the letters, A, S, C, E with the S crossed out. He just walked in when he yelled, "Oi, Sanji! Fix me up something good!" There was quite a commotion when everyone actually noticed him, everyone was whispering to each other, "Isn't that Ace?" or things similar to that extent. When Sanji walked out of his personal room he looked towards the entrance, "Hello Ace. I'd rather you not cause a commotion. Also, by wanting food I suppose you have the money?" Ace looked back at Sanji with a big smile, "Haha! Why are you such a money fiend, we're all friends aren't we?" Sanji gave Ace a sharp look, "Oh, so I guess you don't have money. Well we need money for supplies, and you eat way too much for your own good. However, I guess since you've saved me, or, us, before, I'll treat you just this once." At that Ace took a seat and fell asleep.

"Hey, Chief, you know Fire Fist Ace?" Sanji shrugged, "Eh, it's not important, just keep doing work." Yoh grew curious at this odd stranger, "Sanj- er, Chief, who is this Ace? Is he famous? Can I serve him?" Sanji looked back at Yoh, "He's just an idiot. You can serve him if you want. Follow me." Yoh followed Sanji to his room and was amazed, as this was his first time seeing it, noticed it was like a kitchen fused with a room. "Amazing!" Yoh had said when he first entered, but he was replied by, "Just stand there and wait for me to finish cooking." After the first two minutes, Sanji handed Yoh a plate that he took to Ace. "Her- Ah!" Ace had woken up from his nap and flung the knife that he was holding straight at Yoh, not only this, but it was on fire. Before it reached Yoh though, the pointed parts of the knife had melted, however, it was still on fire and when it made contact with his skin it burst into larger flames. When that had happened, Yoh remembered everything from before he woke up in the Basilica. He too, had Fire Powers.

Ace apologized to Yoh before noticing what had actually happened, "Oh? Boy, what's your name?"

"Y-Yoh. Yoh E. Sodom," he replied.

"You... also have Mera Mera no Mi Powers?"

"What's Mera Mera no Mi?"

"A Devil's Fruit. Granting that who eats it some sort of Power in exchange for weakness to Water. Like so," Ace demonstrated turning his hand on fire.

"I don't think I ever ate one of those."

"But you have Fire Powers, do you not?"

"I do."

Ace stood up, "Hmm, interesting! Maybe you ate it while you thought you were eating a normal meal! Let's test! Ah. Wait. I need to eat first." Ace sat back down.

"Oh right! This is your food." Yoh handed Ace the plate and returned to Sanji's room.

When he had arrived it was full of food. "What were you doing? Hurry up and give Ace this food." Yoh was confused, "He can eat this much?" but he didn't want to have Ace wait much longer so he brought as much as he could and when he delivered it, Ace had already eaten the share Yoh had initially given him. "Fast!" Yoh began moving faster while delivering the food, Ace was devouring it one by one at godlike speed. Yoh could only remember up to 50 plates when he stopped counting and was surprised at how much he ate. "Wow, mister, you sure eat a lot!"