154 Chapter 154

154

And there, they saw 'her'. Sitting on a chair, the woman looked a bit taller than Kuina, white hair mixed with black, wearing a blue kimono. She had fair skin and yellow rubies-like eyes. But there was no flicker of light in there. As if it was lifeless… mainly because it was.

She seemed to have a sad smile on her face. Her age was not known, but call it a hunch, Kuina could guess she was most definitely older than she looked.

The woman in question was sitting in her chair, leaning on the table, as both her hands were interlocked together. As if she was waiting, waiting with a sad smile. A book lying lazily on the table.

Everything would have looked normal if it wasn't for the whole thing being frozen in ice. The woman in question looked like a realistic ice sculpture rather than real.

"Oh God!" Vivi gasped, seeing the frozen lady. "Is she…"

Kuina grimly nodded, walking forward, her hand still over her sword in case something happened, she investigated.

Now that she looked up close, she could see that something was sown in on her sleeve. But she couldn't read it, the language was not of their time, at least.

Maybe that was her name, Kuina looked around.

Unlike the rest of the place, this place didn't have a coffin. But from the looks of it, this woman was the source of Virf. The ice around them, all of it. It was from her and her alone. Just how powerful was this woman when she was alive?

'This place,' Kuina thought, 'This place is a mystery.'

Kuina was sure this woman was the Virf user. But she didn't see any sword nearby. Maybe this Virf user didn't use a sword? Could be possible, as even the techniques she learned, all of them could be easily be used without the use of a sword.

Kuina walked a bit forward and touched the book that was on the table. Unlike the rest, this was encased in light blue ice. The ice around it shattered, surprising her, she didn't even have to use Virf this time, but nothing else happened.

"Was it supposed to do that?" Vivi asked.

Kuina shrugged, before she picked the book up and opened it. It seemed to be a log book, of some kind.

Not that she could read it. The writings used was not of their time. Maybe some lost old language.

Vivi walked forward, leaning over Kuina's shoulder.

"This… I think I can read it." Vivi said, making Kuina surprised.

The swordswoman handed the book over to her, as Vivi leaned in on the book.

"How, do you know it…? The writings, I mean."

"I actually don't know this language in particular… but the words look similar to the ancient language people in Alabasta used to write back then. As nobles… I know the ancient text… So… maybe I will be able to…" Vivi mumbled. "This will take a bit of time."

Kuina nodded, gesturing for Vivi to sit on a nearby chair. Vivi hesitantly sat opposite the frozen body, as she went over the book.

When she opened the book though, a letter came out of it.

"I think we should start with this one," Kuina said, picking up the letter. Vivi nodded. She was no language expert, but this written form of language was similar to the one used back home, maybe they could find out something about this ghost ship from here.

When Kuina touched the book, it detected her of being a Virf user, and the ice went away. That was the reason why she was interested. Virf was no magic, the supernatural aspect of it was very uncontrolled. So how someone could have precise control over the ice, it really made her interested.

.

The letter;

To whoever finds this letter, I welcome them to our ship, Midnight's Parade. Our ship. We are sorry that we couldn't be of service, due to our unforeseen death.

Death… Really, no one sees it coming. We were a pirate crew that ventured into the sea with grand dreams. Even though we called ourselves pirates, we were nothing more than the unruly explorers of the sea.

We had goals and ambitions, but on our way, we made a lot of enemies. And it seemed that we had lost our end.

The first one to be taken from us, was our beloved captain, Rihan. Then our Vice-captain, then our gunman, then our doctor. One by one all of them perished. But maybe that was how it was meant to be.

Only me, the navigator of the ship survived. I was helpless, miserable and in fact, weak. Our doom came to us by a rival pirate while the navy feared us, it didn't think twice to join hands with our enemies. Maybe that was how it was meant to end for us. We only have regrets.

Or, at least I do. Rihan died in my arms smiling, saying one of his jokes. Others died similarly, some with smiles, others with faces full of tears.

Maybe, if I did a better job, and not journeyed from there, maybe then we would have been alive. Or maybe if I was stronger, then maybe I could have saved Rihan from dying. But it was too late for regrets.

All I can say is, whoever finds this letter, please heed my last request. I won't say it was destiny that brought you here, maybe, maybe not.

But if you are reading this, that means, you are most definitely a Virf user or at least someone that knows Haki. So, I have a request.

I request you to not plunder the coffin of my dead crewmates. Let them be. I don't know what they are dealing with on the other side, and I will most likely join them soon. Please, let our bodies be as they are. I have taken measures, but even my eternal ice wouldn't hold for more than a few hundred years.

If you really are a Virf user or want to dabble in the arts of frost. Then in the library, on the first column there are a few books on it. Most of the other books are from Rihan's collection.

I was never a reader or a writer. Still, Rihan had requested me to write a book on my techniques, maybe for the future generation. He always believed in legacy. So you will find other books, with my teachings, there. It might help you along the journey, who knows.

Other than my books, the rest of the books are from everyone's collection. Some having their personal journey written on it, others having dangerous secrets that we have discovered about the void century. A few books are of the islands we have ventured to.

Rather than collecting dust here, Rihan would have loved to have them put to good use. If you can take all of the books with you, please do so. Maybe this is our only way of passing down our legacy.

Again, I request you not to open the coffins of my crewmates.

If it's gold that you want, then, I have to apologize on our part. Our crew was a small humble one, we really didn't have that much. You have to trust my words for it. We have nothing of value, other than the books. It has our journey of exploration there.

That is all we can give you.

Take care, I hope whoever reads this, will be able to fulfill their dreams.

Tsurara Oikawa. The Navigator of the Black Moon Pirates.