Unlikely Allies

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #1

It began almost as another season of Dagon's Dungeon, that silly roleplaying game Christina loved so much. He and Samson just arrived at Sedna Island to avoid a large storm, when the white-haired veteran noticed the probably greatest optimist he ever saw. A short, heavily overweight guy with a bald head and short beard in expensive-looking clothes was walking left and right through the port district, asking everyone he met for help without any real success.
"You have to be a quite new her."
Magnus laughed, as the man was walking around his boat. The overweighted merchant looked up at him with a troubled smile.
"Aye, I thought I'll make fortune here because no one else from the guild wanted to do a business here, but now I understand why."
Magnus laughed.
"Locals aren't much helpful are they?"
The merchant snorted sarcastically.
"Yeah, but hey you don't look like a local and from the look of it I would say you know how to throw a punch too."
Magnus frowned. Was this guy mistaking him for a mercenary?
"Listen"
The merchant continued
"I am in a pinch and I can pay good money for your help. Some monster snuck into my warehouse and now is destroying all my goods. I…"
He lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper.
"I have a Devil Fruit there. It's locked but if that beast eats it will be a complete disaster. I already have a buyer who offered me a lot of money for it. So what would you say, 5 Million should be a good price for your services no?"
Magnus frowned, although Christina would give him an earful for refusing such a generous payment, he had no interest in the money. The fruit, however…the chance to destroy the devil before it gets hold of some unfortunate soul, that was something completely different. And so in the end, he nodded.
"Yes, it is."

[Bobbie]

Tanako had been wandering Sedna island for some time. She wasn’t quite clear on how she wound up here, but she did… and so, her pursuit began - or rather continued - for the one and only thing that her body and soul perpetually desired: food.

Of course, Tanako was no ill-mannered animal, but she was also not unlike a stray in her mannerisms or appearance. Having no money or anything to her name, all she carried with her were the clothes on her back, her stockings ripping at the soles and at the ankles, slightly, from all her walking. While she tried her very best to posture her body upright as she walked, it seemed that her limbs were always just too heavy for her muscles to hold in the position that she commanded them to be in, her movements often unnatural as her joints loosened and tensed at awkward times. It seemed that these were the after effects of all her years practising contortionism. It was like a switch was flicked on that she simply couldn’t turn off… and her head… her head was the heaviest as it often rolled from shoulder to shoulder, tilting forward and backward with a curtain of deep black hair blocking most of her vision until she could manage to peep through in between the thicket of strands.

Unfortunately, the woman dressed in a dirty kimono experienced prejudice for this reason. She realised that she must have appeared too dirty for people to let her into their restaurants or homes to offer her any of the food that she pleaded for. Perhaps because of her hair that fell over her ears, the people seemed to think she had trouble hearing, as they always refused in such deafening screams. She did think it was sweet, however, that despite this, many people seemed to treat her like royalty - they always cleared a path for her as if it was hers to walk and nobody else had such a privilege. In fact, it sometimes only took one glance and people scattered to make room for her.

The citizens of Sedna really were kind. This was confirmed when one young lad took her to a warehouse that was filled to the brim with boxes upon boxes of food of all kinds! There were cereals, different kinds of meats, bread, rice (though most of it was uncooked), and even some candy, among many other things. Once they reached the warehouse, the fellow only glanced back over her shoulder at her once and then he was gone, his voice travelling through the air as he ran, which Tanako could only understand to have been, ‘Aaaaaaaahhnjoooy!” with some sort of dialect. So… enjoy she will.

As she sought refuge within the warehouse, with all the food she could ever want, Tanako quickly began to devour everything that she set her eyes upon. Sometimes, somebody would come to visit her, and she would be polite, moving to the door to greet them as quickly as she could, though not always in very linear fashion as her legs struggled to drive her forward in a conventional straight manner. Perhaps they never noticed her approach, however, as they always left again before she could meet them, leaving the poor soul all alone in the warehouse once more.

* * *

At the port, a worker for the merchant hurried up to him, his face pale as if he’d seen a ghost before running miles to this spot, followed by two companions, equally white and out of breath, their eyes wide. “M-Mr Saito… the men really c-can’t take this anymore, we’re all so hungry and the nightmares... Have you found someone?” the young worker clasped his hands together in prayer as he fell to his knees, then he looked at Magnus. “I-Is this him?” he pointed, before crawling to Magnus and tugging at his clothes. “Please just get rid of the monster!” He begged, in tears. “Please!”

---

Tanako: #c1ddfd
Worker: #7f68b7

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #2

The white-haired veteran watched as the three men ran to them completely terrified, only to drop on the knees begging him to help. He felt awkward in that situation and so he quickly gestured them to get back up.

“Yes, I will so, get back up, alright…”

He growled frustrated about how the situation turned out all of sudden, without even knowing that the worst was only about to come.

“Is it food?”

Silent and somehow creepy voice appeared behind him. Samson, the young man he rescued on the Jreum island probably couldn´t wait any longer for the breakfast he promised him and so came asking if these people delivered it. Unfortunately, they got it all wrong.

“That…THAT´S THE MONSTER! IT CAME OUT TO EAT OUR SOULS!”

Screamed one of these workers, as he got back on his feet, quickly backing away from the long haired man, followed by the rest of his friends, including the merchant.

“Monster? Where!?”

Terrified, Samson jumped up on the upper, horizontal part of their mast, hugging it like a scared cat.

“What? Wait…wait he is no monster, that´s my nephew, Samson!”

Magnus yelled in frustration, stopping these men from running away.

“N…nephew?”

Asked Mr. Saito with a trembling voice.

“But…why does he look like the monster?”

The former marine cursed. Back on Jreum Island, Samson was also mistaken for a monster, which was how he got to him in the fist place. And if the merchant was telling him, that they looked alike did it mean that whatever broke into his warehouse was human too? Or could it possibly be one of the kidnapped relatives Samson told him about? All of sudden the job became much more complicated.

“What are you talking about?”

Magnus asked harshly after all these thoughts ran through his head in the span of few seconds.

“He is human like you or me. It´s just these hair…you know teenagers and their phases…”

He shrugged.

[Bobbie]

“Oh God, there are two of them!” the same hysterical worker from earlier yelled, despite Magnus explaining that Samson was no monster but in fact his nephew. This, however, was not enough as the man burst into wails, clearly traumatised by whatever he witnessed in the warehouse, collapsing to his knees yet again.

While one of his colleagues tried to push the snivelling man away, the other was more supportive and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him while he listened to the interaction between Magnus and Mr Saito.

“Oh… no, no, no, this is no human.” One of the workers began to explain, seemingly the toughest of the three, though even he had a slight tremor in his voice. “The creature at the warehouse… it’s not just her hair, you see…” he stepped closer in an ominous motion, his hands hanging down. “Her body… moves…” he took another step, twisting his shoulders in an attempt to mimic her, “In all sorts of unnatural ways!” He exclaimed, his voice getting louder. “Her skin is blue, like a corpse! And her eyes…” he paused, his own eyes filled with horror, before he reached up to pull at his own cheeks and drag the skin of his cheekbones lower to make his eyes stretch into an unnerving shape, “Oh, her eyes… they are so empty!”

At this point, having been taking little steps in between his words, the man reached Magnus and extended a finger to poke his chest, “She will stare into your soul, sir… your soul…”

The traumatised man behind him burst into another fit of sobs, covering his face.

“Like she wants to devour it! Just like she’s devouring everything in our warehouse!” He glanced at Samson and gulped, then at Mr Saito, and finally at Magnus before making a grand gesture - perhaps he wished to impress his boss as he straightened up and cleared his throat. “I will take you to the warehouse if you’d like, but I will not step inside…”

* * *

Left to her own devices at the warehouse, Tanako continued to wander through the room, dragging her bare feet in between stacks of boxes and occasionally peering over them to get a sneak peek at their contents. Most times, however, she couldn't see inside and she reached in blindly to take out one item, and then popped it into her mouth without a second thought.

Sometimes it tasted sweet, sometimes it tasted bitter. Sometimes it was a soft and chewy in texture and other times it was crunchy and unpleasant. This time it was tasteless and squelched in her mouth, whatever it was sticking to the roof and her tongue like glue. However, Tanako always made it a rule that once food goes into her mouth, it shall never be spat out, and so she tilted her head back. As her hair was allowed to drop straight down like a waterfall, her back arched as she went a little bit too far, until she finally swallowed and down the hatch it went!

With great effort, Tanako swung her head forward, causing her to lose her balance for a moment as her head now hung forward, then she resumed wandering around the warehouse. She had been searching for food and food she found, but she had to admit that this was a very odd form of buffet, as she would expect other people to be here as well, yet whoever stopped by never stayed for very long.

---

Tanako: #c1ddfd

Worker 1: #7f68b7
Worker 2: #688fb7

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #3

The white-haired veteran was looking down on the vailing worker with contempt in his eyes. Judging someone just based on their look was something unforgivable in his book, especially when the boy already received his share of hate and persecution for it.

“They hate meeeeeee, why do they hate meeeee!”

The long-haired peculiarity cried from his post, prompting Magnus to throw another murderous gaze their way, before turning to his companion.

“No, that´s not it, they just mistook you with someone else, alright? See, this gentleman doesn´t hate you at all.”

He pointed on Mr. Saito, who was just describing what kind of evil found sanctuary in his warehouse.

Hearing his words, Samson looked from under his long hair as if he was thinking, before he nodded and carefully climbed down on the upper deck of their boat.

Magnus sighed.

“Well from what you are describing me it seems that a devil took claimed your warehouse as it´s sanctuary.”

Magnus said sternly. As the description Mr. Saito just gave him was strongly suggesting that whatever, or whoever broke into his warehouse was already possessed by one of the devils. Could it be, that the devil inside of Mr. Saito´s fruit called one of his own for help? Wishing to jump from piece of fruit into the soul of some innocent human? He couldn´t exclude such theory especially when some authors who wrote about these things claimed that these accursed fruits had will of their own.

“Fortunately for you…”

He continued after short break.

“When it comes to dealing with these things, I am an expert. Lead the way.”

As he asked for direction, Samson jumped from their boat, landing an all four like an oversized cat or rather some strange bug, walking several steps like that, before he remembered he should probably stend upright. So to get back on his feet, he moved forward, shifting all his weight on his hands, so he could lift his leg high to the sky, bending his back so they would hit the pier in front of his hands, before he shifted weight again, this time on his feet, straightening himself to standing position, with an innocent smile on his face.

[Bobbie]

As Magnus claimed to be an expert when it came to dealing with monsters like that which they had lurking about in their warehouse, a bit of hope was restored in the eyes of the workers. However, as Samson leapt from their boat and crawled behind his uncle and the one worker who offered to lead them to the devil that made its home in their building, the previously crying worker let out a scream before he collapsed. His friend was not far behind, as the very image of Samson’s style of walking was enough to send both workers down memory lane with many horrifying reminders of what they’ve experienced. He too fainted and fell to the ground.

Shaking his head, the bravest of the trio continued to walk with Magnus and Samson, though he tried to keep his distance from Samson anyway.

“So when you say you’re an expert… what exactly do you mean by that?” he asked, glancing at Samson as he wondered if this man had the power to tame such creatures.

“It’s not far, but look, I have to warn you - you’ve seen what this creature has done to my co-workers. We don’t know what else it’s capable of, so… you’re taking a risk here, alright?” he continued, trying to tactfully shift all responsibility onto Magnus, in case things go wrong. “We’re holding you under no obligation and what you're about to do here is of your own free will, against payment of course. Mr Saito made that clear, I’m sure.”

Just as the worker said, it really wasn’t very far and they soon arrived at the entrance which they kept securely padlocked. Taking out a large key, he handed it to the brave white-haired man. He suddenly cringed and nearly jumped out of his skin as there was a loud crashing sound from within. “Here… let us know when the job is done.” Forcing the key into his hand, the worker spun on his heel and hurriedly left the area.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Tanako was getting hungrier and hungrier, as each box that she slipped her hand into came out with something that was not particularly nourishing for her body and outright inedible in the eyes of any rational person. She had now made her way onto the top shelf of the iron scaffolding and was crawling on top of all the boxes, having to squeeze her body flat to fit into the narrow space between the boxes and the ceiling. The woman had since learnt how to use her antennae to guide her to something that would smell and taste delicious from all the time spent hunting down food, yet it still required her to be a limited distance from whatever goods they were. Now, she picked up on it. This time, it was a common food for sailors - salt crackers.

Moving on all four limbs, her clammy fingers clinging to the boxes’ edges and her bony knees and elbows sticking out at awkward angles, she let her straight black hair glide along the surface of boxes, her chin almost touching it. Her goal was set. She was after those crackers-

CRASH, went the box of smuggled China that she just accidentally sent falling from this great height.

It didn’t matter to her. The crackers were ahead of her, if she’d just keep moving, and she was fueled by her insatiable hunger to allow her to ignore the distraction of the fallen crate. As she finally reached the box she had clambered up here for, however, she suddenly froze. This was a different distraction that she simply couldn't dismiss.

While her body did not move, her head turned at an uncomfortable angle to peer back at the door that was behind her, the curtain of hair that concealed a lot of her face parting for one brown eye to peer through the gap.

Her antennae flicked, almost indistinguishable from her actual hair, but they did their job well, picking up on a disturbance in the air’s vibrations, the scent of an individual who was sweating which she recognised from earlier, and another unrecognised smell. No, there were two new smells.

Someone’s here.

Like a deer in headlights, Tanako didn’t move a muscle and remained impossibly still in such a mangled posture, waiting, wondering… do they have food?

---

Worker 2: #688fb7
Tanako: #c1ddfd

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #4

The white-haired veteran looked at the two men who lost consciousness upon seeing Samson´s behaviour with a mixt of pity and contempt, before turning his attention on the young man himself.

“I told you not to show off.”

The Phantom watched him for a moment as if he didn´t understood what he done wrong, before lowering his head in apology.

“I am sorry Magnus.”

His voice was that of puppy, that was kicked when it expected praise, which softened the former captain´s stone like demeanour almost immediately.

“Don´t worry about it, you just made mistake, that´s all.”

He patted him on the back before following the last remaining worker, who started asking unnecessary questions almost immediately.

“That means, I dealt with Devils like this before.”

He answered coldly, his face once again turned into stone mask.

“And don´t worry, I don´t really expect you to pay my hospital bill if that´s what you are trying to say.”

With that he took the key from him and entered the warehouse, followed by Samson, who dropped on all four almost immediately after the door closed behind them. To not scare their pray away, Magnus was trying to walk quietly, but with his gargantuan weight it was an impossible task, as every step of his echoed through the whole place.

“Uncle Magnus, I am hungry, can we go for the donuts?”

Samson asked, his words accompanied by a growling sound coming from his stomach.

“Work first.”

The white-haired veteran muttered, looking around the dark place in an attempt to see anything that would look like…well, that would look like second Samson.

“If we deal with this thing, I´ll buy you a whole box of them.”

The young man looked at him with a eye of hungry puppy and then shouted on the whole warehouse.

“MONSTER, WHERE ARE YOU?!”

[Bobbie]

The door slammed shut behind the two newcomers, and the man made his first few steps into the room while Tanako peered toward the source of the sound though keeping herself hidden atop the scaffolded shelves. He moved so slowly, it was like he was afraid of stepping on a mine.

How odd…

The woman in long hair turned to face the door and she inched forward, dragging her body along the crates upon which she had crawled to reach her current spot, her knees up higher than her shoulders as she moved. As she peeked out from the very top of the stack, her face mostly concealed by her hair while her ghostly skeletal fingers gripped the edge of the boxes, one eye was open wide in an attempt to see through the curtain of hair that oftentimes restricted her vision.

Her head slowly rose over the wooden horizon of crates like a djinn that was sneaking up on its prey, but she froze as she saw Samson and her eye only widened further.

He… looks like me? Is he also from Houma? She stared for some seconds while she thought about the strange young man, before she sank back into her hidden position. Many questions ran through her mind, mainly - Are they dangerous? Other questions concerned where these people - Samson specifically - came from, why they were here, and, perhaps most importantly… Did he say doughnuts?

Tanako couldn’t count the years since she had last feasted her taste buds upon such a sweet delight, though she wasn’t usually quite a glutton for sugar. In fact, plain rice suited her just fine. Yet it was a significant upgrade from the rubbish that she could find in this warehouse, some of which tasted atrocious, though was not necessarily inedible… no, she hadn’t found a single thing that was inedible regardless of its taste. Everything is edible.

Without a sound, the haunting woman slid over the side of the shelves that held so many containers that it may as well be a wall and began to manoeuvre her way down all the way to the floor, where her body collapsed onto all fours.

Climbing is exhausting… the thought elicited a gentle sigh that echoed throughout the warehouse like a ghostly moan, causing Tanako to swiftly raise a cold hand to cover her mouth. What she couldn’t understand was why this young man was calling out to a monster. She had been in this warehouse for quite some time now, surely there was no monster… if he was referring to her, then he was very mistaken.

Rising to her feet, Tanako’s body swayed as it needed a moment to return to a posture of stability from the contorted and twisted position it was previously put into with ease. Her head drooped low as she stared at the floor that her almost bare feet, only covered in a thin nylon layer of old stockings, were now placed on and her arms hung limp slightly in front of her body. Her back simply refused to straighten into the conventional manner of keeping one’s back straight and in good posture, and as she took one step forward, she nearly lost her balance, causing the woman to drift to one side. Another step and she’d gravitate toward the other side.

This is not polite, I must approach and greet them… but if I greet them, will they run away like all the others did?

It seemed that she had no other choice but to move forward and find out, and so move forward she did, until she reached the very end of the steel shelving in her aisle and she let half of her body slide into view, the other half still concealed behind the ironworks.

Lost for words, she thought about what kind of greeting would be a welcoming one, perhaps one that showed appreciation and gratitude for their presence - with no mention of food. Not yet.

“How nice of you to come…” she spoke slowly, a voice coming from the darkness of the blanket of hair that covered her mouth. Her vocal chords seemed to have to work as hard as her entire body as she emerged into full view now, her mop of hair falling to one side as she tilted her head so as to uncover her eye and allow her to meet her visitors, making eye contact with Samson first. She took a step forward and her body lurched, her wings subtly beating the air to drive her forward with her next step at a greater speed. The jolt caused her head to bob as her neck looked like it could break, while her arms moved outward to try and maintain her balance.

As her body came to another abrupt stop now only a matter of feet away from the pair, she shifted her gaze onto Magnus, her unblinking eye now fixed on his as it stared at him with intensity. She knew that avoiding eye contact was considered anti-social behaviour.

"There is no monster inside these four walls." Without moving her head, her visible eye flicked over to Samson yet again, it beginning to glisten due to the long time without blinking. Her feet remained rooted to the ground as she didn't dare take another step on the cold floor, but she now leaned forward to close a little bit of the gap between herself and the more peculiar of the two figures. Her neck craned to get as close to the boy without having to move from her spot. The next three words uttered by the woman displayed a complete lack of understanding of the situation or the irony in her statement.

"You are safe."

---

Tanako: #c1ddfd

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #5

The two men were sneaking through the warehouse, trying to find the so-called monster, that was supposed to lurk there. But instead of screaming and charging beast, they found a different creature that greeted them with a human speech, although it seemed, that it was very difficult for her to say these few words.

Well, truth to be told, if not for his experiences with Samson, the white-haired veteran would suspect her to be some kind of monster or devil as well, but like this, he wasn´t really sure. The two of them looked so similar, but still, there were some differences he was warry off.

That wasn´t however the case with Samson, as the young man tilted his head to the side, when his eyes finally saw Tanoko and her dark hair in the shadows of the warehouse, carefully walking to her on all four, before he sniffed to her head, like a dog that is greeting another canine he didn´t meet yet.

“Are you…”

He paused, trying to find the right words

“…my sister?”

He asked curiously but also confused that another existence so similar to his was just in front of his eyes. That was something unexpected and perplexing for the young man because as far as he remembered, he was the only one who looked like him.

“That´s about to be determined.”

Magnus growled, revealing his military past in his hard, stern voice while squatting down to Tanoko´s level. While he was just as curious as his protegee, his face wasn´t showing a single hint of emotions as he knew that while their origins might be similar, if she already ate the accursed fruit that was stored there, he would have to kill her regardless.

“So, tell me, who are you? How did you get here?”

[Bobbie]

It was Samson who approached her first, and Tanako was equally confused by his appearance as he was by hers. She had met a couple of strange-looking individuals but very few of them like her, even in her home town.

As the young man reached her, she didn’t move an inch and simply stared back at him, letting him do whatever it was he needed to do. Then he asked his question, and her head shot back in surprise, her hair rippling like a silky black wave. It was certainly a possibility that the two could be related, distant family could appear at any time, family that perhaps she never knew she had.

“I don’t know… I don’t think I have any biological brothers.” All of Tanako’s attention was on Samson, quite enamoured by his behaviour. If they were siblings, it was already decided in her mind that he would be the younger one, regardless of their actual ages. A smile started to form on her face, but it quickly disappeared again when Magnus seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere and squatted down to be at her level. His tone was a lot less friendly than that of Samson and her body trembled, her heart racing as she was intimidated by the large man. She began to move backwards, away from him, rather slowly while she watched him, but she answered his questions nonetheless.

“My name is Tanako Momochi,” she glanced at Samson to see if he recognised her name, perhaps hoping that he would. As her body was still carrying itself away from the pair, she lowered herself to press against the floor. “I was wandering through when I found this warehouse,” she uttered before slipping into the shadows and swiftly squeezing herself underneath the lowest level of iron shelving, a tight spot that most people would struggle to fit into as easily as the woman did. Her voice continued to echo through the large room, coming from her cosy spot, “I was looking for food. I’m very hungry.”

While she was sure that she wasn’t visible, masked in darkness and concealed beneath the stacked goods on the metal frame under which she hid, she seemed to forget the length of her hair. This was clearly showing from underneath the shelving as it wasn’t all pulled under and flowed out from under it like a rug. Then it began sweeping the floor as it slithered back to reveal that she was moving backwards, away from them.

---

Tanako: #c1ddfd

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #6

Samson looked at Tanako, hoping that she will confirm his assumption about their relationship. However, when she mentioned that she doesn´t have any biological brothers he paused, watching her in clear confusion.

“But I have a sister…I remember her clearly. She was this big when the bad people took me!”

He gestured something between toddler and pre-school kid.

“But if you don´t have brothers…cousins?! We can be cousins. I remember having lots of them!”

He exclaimed happily when his mind finally found a way from this situation, only for Tanako to quickly disappear into the darkness in response to Magnus and his behaviour.

“You…scared her away…”

The long-haired man muttered in an accusatory tone.

The white-haired veteran looked into the darkness, where Tanako disappeared just a few moments ago, frustrated. This wasn´t what he wanted to achieve.

“Hey, you don´t have to be afraid of me.”

He switched to a much kinder tone, one that he usually reserved for his two daughters.

“You know, this place belongs to someone and that includes the things you ate. You know, that person is very angry at you and asked me to chase you away, but I think you are not a bad person. Right? You are a good girl, just a hungry one. Am I right?”

He asked, still watching the area where she disappeared from his sight.

“So let´s make a deal. You will help me to find something, that is supposed to be hidden in this warehouse. And if we´ll find it, I´ll invite you to some proper food. Do you like donuts? Here Samson…”

He nodded at his companion.

“Loves them so we wanted to get some later.”

Technically speaking, while he was hiding his true intentions from her, he wasn´t lying. Because if they find the Devil Fruit it will mean she didn´t eat it yet, making her innocent in the Exorcist´s eyes.

[Bobbie]

Although Samson received no answer to his question, Tanako did consider it. However, to find out if they were related, she would need to know where he was from. She was born and raised in Houma, although, now that she thought about it, she had never been introduced to any cousins… that must mean that if he were a relative, then he must have been born somewhere else, hence their never meeting.

As she lay flat beneath the shelving, her thoughts were interrupted by Magnus, who spoke in a dramatically different tone now, yet she still found herself dragging her body further away from him in distrust despite the kindness in his words.

Just as she disappeared under the shelves, she started to reappear as one hand was outstretched first, bony and blue, clammy by sight without having to even feel her skin. Her fingers appeared to latch onto the floor, despite there being nothing to actually hook onto, and she began to pull herself forward. Her head came out from the darkness, but just as abruptly as her movements started, they stopped again, and she remained frozen there, half uncovered and eyes rolled up to stare at Magnus between the strands of her hair. “I am very sorry that I have angered the person who owns this place. Many people have come, and I’ve tried to apologise several times. They never give me a chance to.” She spoke in a saddened tone, followed by a very lonely sigh. “Just a hungry one…” she agreed, before disappearing back into the shadows, her head sinking underneath the shelving first, and then her arm was retracted into her cosy spot as well. “Very hungry…”

Tanako then listened to Magnus propose a deal. It was an interesting one that certainly peaked her interest. For a moment, she was completely still and completely silent, until she finally answered in a whisper.

“I like everything.”

She paused before coming out on the other side of the shelves in the same manner she did earlier, locking eyes with Samson now instead of Magnus with a piercing stare. “You love doughnuts? There’s nothing like that in here, most of it doesn’t taste very good. But…”

She crawled out entirely, using her hands and feet, rather than knees, to crawl out and stopped right beside the iron rails of the scaffolding under which she had been hiding. With one swift motion, she rose to her feet, her back arched and her arms hanging low as her shoulders needed more time to straighten up. Finally, they did, and her head toppled backward, her hair fully revealing her face for just a moment while her gaze was fixed on Magnus if she could spot him. Despite her deathly complexion and the despair that reflected in her eyes, her face was not as scary as her manner implied. Tanako threw her head forward to prevent her body from tumbling back and her face was hidden again.

“No deal.” The woman raised one hand, her dirty kimono sleeve dangling off her arm, and pointed directly at Magnus, knowing precisely where he was even though her eyes were concealed beneath her hair. “You feed us both first…”

---

Tanako: #c1ddfd

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #7

When the strange girl didn´t emerged from bellow the shelves, Magnus frowned. This tone usually worked on childish people like her. It definitely worked on his daughters and Samson, but perhaps this one was a bit more cautious?

“Or maybe not…”

He muttered for himself, as the strange looking woman started leaving her hideout after he mentioned food being involved.

“She would be probably the cheapest employer in the whole world…or maybe the most expensive…”

He added the later part, when the ghostly looking girl mentioned how much hungry she was.

“It´s alright, I am sure it was just some kind of misunderstanding.”

The large white-haired men smiled kindly, movement that became nearly foreign to his face during the last few weeks.

“Like? Like? Like? I love them! They are the most heavenly thing I ever tasted!”

Samson exclaimed pivoting one leg, his long hair flailing around him, before falling to the ground back first.

“Uncle she is right! We need to get them! We need the donuts first!”

The young man rolled on all four, running to Magnus in very similar fashion to Tanako.

“Donuts, donuts, donuts!”

He repeated as a small child, running circles around his patron.

“No, we don´t.”

Magnus frowned, already irritated by this childish behaviour.

“No one leaves this place, before we secure that fruit. If you are hungry, here…”

He reached into one of the many pockets of his military pants, pulling out two large chocolate bars, throwing one to Samson, who immediately caught it and the second one to Tanako. Before meeting the young man he wasn´t carrying food like this around, but learning the hard way how moody his protegee could be when hungry, he quickly adopted and carried around some chocolate bars together with cookies, jelly bears or other similar sweets to keep him motivate.

[Bobbie]

The woman hidden behind a thick blanket of hair watched Samson as her arm dropped down and relented from its pointing gesture. She stared at him as he exclaimed how much he loved doughnuts in such an enthusiastic manner as he proceeded to do something of a spin. He was so curious, but quite adorable in his behaviour. Although she had no idea how old this young man was, he certainly acted very childishly and she found it quite endearing.

As her male lookalike turned to the larger, less welcoming man, Tanako’s gaze shifted to look at him and see his response to the boy’s pleading. Without making a sound, her shoulders shuddered as she silently giggled as Samson seemed to be so easily swayed at the promise of deliciously sweet treats and was fearless in making this known to his uncle.

However, when Magnus refused Samson’s wishes, Tanako’s smile disappeared and was replaced with a very dissatisfied frown instead as she watched the poor boy’s excitement shut down so harshly. Then he put forward what sounded nothing short of a direct order, a condition or perhaps a threat that nobody will be allowed to leave before he reaches his goal. While she would be fine with not going anywhere, she was promised doughnuts, and she wanted to see herself and the oddball of a young man get them. Standing there, her arms began trembling with the anger and rage that was beginning to wash over her.

When the chocolate was hurled into the air in her direction, her body lurched forward like a vehicle that stalled, the sudden jerk causing ripples in her hair while her hands darted forward to catch the chocolate bar, and all her frustration was temporarily forgotten. Her energy levels were nowhere near Samson’s though she took the chocolate and all of her attention was on the sugary delight as her head visibly lowered to examine the chocolate. Her long fingers wrapped around it and soon began clawing at the wrapping before it disappeared underneath her hair. With protruding elbows, the large chocolate bar was quickly devoured, one supersized bite at a time and with very little chewing and within seconds, it was all gone - including most of the wrapper.

Tanako’s empty hands dropped down again as she turned her head to look at Magnus once more. She took one single step toward him as she demanded, 

“More.”

---

Tanako: #c1ddfd

[Mr. Moon]

Magnus #8

Samson was a glutton, that wasn´t thinking much about how he was eating as long as he could eat something sweet and delicious, but that strange woman was on a completely different level. Magnus realized that as he watched her downing the whole bar, its wrapping included.

“You know that you are supposed to get rid of that wrapping first, right?”

He asked as if he was talking with a small child that obviously missed a few important lessons about how to act properly.

He thought that that was it and they will be able to focus on the main part of their investigation now, but that was clearly a mistake as Tanako instead stepped forward demanding more. And here behavior clearly inspired Samson too, as he crawled towards Magnus with head tilted to the side.

“There will be more?”

The white-haired veteran gave him a single stern look, that quickly put the young man back into place, before reaching into another pocket to pull out a pack of chocolate chip cookies, holding them outside both Samson´s and Tanako´s reach.

“I can give these delicious cookies to the two of you, but you have both to promise that afterwards, we will go to find that missing Devil Fruit, understood? No promise, no cookies.”

Samson looked horrified. While donuts were his favorite food by far, cookies were in very close second place, especially chocolate chip ones!

“I promise! I promise!”

He rushed to Magnus, only to realize that to get this sweet goodness they both had to say these words.

“We both promise, right?”

He asked, running circles around Tanako in an attempt to get her to agree faster.

“Right? Right?!

While still running around, he quickly reached in her direction in an attempt to poke here where he expected her ribs to be.